Sun Coloured Dresses and Battered Guitars
by Dil's Song
Summary: So there's Alice, who is a little less female, and there's Jasper, who is a little less kind. There are also wars that never happened, and a religion that isn't real. Hopefully, it makes for interesting reading. Trans, non-het/non-cis themes.
1. Chapter 1

Okay! A new story I'm _really _proud of! It deals with transgender but not really. Also - yeah, this isn't het. Not conventional het, anyway. I've taken a lot of liberties, you see, but that's because I can. Because it's fanfiction!

Basically - short little preview, and my tweak on how it went when Jasper and Alice first met.

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><p>Jasper looked around the battle-field, completely at home amongst the carnage, blood and pain. He heard a whimper, and looked down. A man lay there, slowly dying, and radiating fear, regret, agony. Jasper smiled warmly.<p>

"There, there, solider. You're a private, aren't you? I won't let your last moments be shamed with tears. Let me help," He said gently, as he had infinite respect for those who served their country with pride, and lifted his rifle, aimed for the heart, and fired.

The bang echoed, carrying out through the field, and Jasper shouldered his rifle again, clicked his heels together, and saluted.

"Good bye, private." He said clearly, and then turned, walking away. Suddenly he stopped. "Wait – I'm thirsty." He mumbled, reminding himself, and turned to walk back the way he came.

It was a practised movement; he unsheathed his sword, and raised it. Another practised movement, and the recently-dead man's head rolled from his body.

Greedily, the other man hefted it up, lifted it high by the dead roots of hair, and tilted his own head back, opening his mouth and allowing the blood to drip down his face.

He stood like that for a long while, until the blood flow shortened and he threw away the head, and swallowed the blood that had trickled into his mouth. Jasper swiped a hand across his face, which didn't do too much for the mess that was still on it.

_Hmm-hmm-hm-hm!_

He cocks his head to the side. Was that …? It couldn't be …. He focuses his hearing, past dying breaths and stuttering hearts. Though really, that was all his ears wanted to focus on.

_Hmm! Hmm! Hm! Hm!_

… Yes it was. Someone was humming on a battlefield. Jasper tried not to be too pissed. Some pathetic people simply didn't know the proper etiquette when in the middle of the aftermath of war. Humming definitely wasn't what you'd do. That was just plain disrespectful.

Sure – Jasper took a piss or two while here; and maybe had a meal; but that was it. No humming – no happy. Battle wasn't happy!

Ending up infuriating himself; Jasper storms over to the source of the noise.

"Shut up! Shut up! No more hummin'! I'll make sure it's the last thing you do around here!" He raged, gun out and ready to be aimed. When he sees who it is though, his blood runs cold.

Tiny, body, elfish little face, and short black hair. Not to mention … the bright yellow sun-dress.

"Y-you …." He growls, trying to back away and intimidate at the same time. His instincts said _run_! Shouted it, really - but his pride kept him grounded. The person moved closer.

He actually had absolutely no idea who this little person was. But somehow he knew that this disadvantage wasn't recuperated. She knew exactly who he was, and that was dangerous.

The sun-dresser looks at him, and smiles widely, the happiness seeping out of her. Jasper almost wants to attempt to fan the feelings away from him.

"You!" Sun-dress replies, though much more cheerfully, and takes a few steps forward. Jasper answers with a few strides back. "I was waiting! You sure know how to make a girl patient!" Sun-dress continues, oblivious to Jasper's instant wariness. He doesn't bother to reply to her, and simply turns, and bolts.

She watches after him with a pout. "Running? Again?" Suddenly, she gave a giggle, "Sorry! This is the first time you've _actually_ run, gotta stop confusing the present with the Pictures!" Suddenly she pouts. "But I really like these shoes!" She whines, though that doesn't stop her from chasing after the fleeing man.


	2. Drunk is the best silencer

This one is about how Jasper wishes he could get drunk, and sees people that are drunk, and then offs some of them.

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><p>Jasper glances side to side, pulling his hat low so as not to be fully seen, or, more importantly, fully remembered. He was on the lookout for lunch … and the Yellow Sun-dress.<p>

Oh, how he feared the Yellow Sun-dress. She was quick, stealthy, and somehow always in the same place he was. He wished dearly that he could lose her, somehow manage to dodge that annoying … but it wasn't as though he could … end her. It wouldn't feel right to shoot the girl, even if she was annoying, she hadn't done anything to harm him, or threaten him … she was probably just lonely, and while Jasper was obliged to keep her company for a while, he could never really stomach her for too long. Jasper sighs, cursing his gentlemanly ways ….

"Hey – cowboy! Nice cowboy hat!" A hand grabs at Jasper's shoulder, before slipping, and only accomplishing yanking his shirt collar down. Fixing it, Jasper turns, and faces two men, swaying and red-cheeked, obviously drunk, and grinning stupidly. But Jasper could tell that they didn't have bad intentions, so he simply sighed.

Jasper missed getting drunk. It was fun. Not that he couldn't get drunk – it just took a ridiculous amount of alcohol that his wallet couldn't handle. He smiled, and nodded to the men. They wouldn't be his lunch; sure, they'd die happy, but he couldn't ruin two mates fun, could he? That'd make him a right bastard.

"Thanks." He says about the hat, and turns again, "See ya, fellas." He adds, starting to walk, before he was grabbed again. This was starting to get old to him, and he'd have probably killed the men if he was a bastard but he wouldn't, mostly because of the pure happiness of being with a mate that both men felt.

"Hey, c'mon, cowboy! You gotta guitar; play us a song!" The other man says, and Jasper raises an eyebrow, glances at his guitar case. He didn't think the men would take it normally, in their inebriated states, the fact that Jasper had his rifle under his guitar in there, well, even a normal reaction wouldn't do. Then again, the way they looked, they'd think it was more important that he didn't know how to play the guitar.

"Come on! We got some change for ya, don't worry!" The first man said, and Jasper blinks, before laughing politely.

"Oh, nah, I'm not a busker; I actually need to get goin' …." He hints, and the men roar with laughter. Jasper also missed how funny the world was when you could barely stay upright.

"Come on! Just one song – and don't worry, I'll be singing!" Man number two says, and clears his throat with intent as he swayed dangerously to the left, only to be yanked up by his mate.

"Home, home on the range, where the bloody fuckers all shit on your shoes!" He howled, and was only encouraged by his friend.

"You beaut! Just lovely! 'Nother verse!" He cheered, and Jasper rolled his eyes, though not quite hiding his smile.

"Okay, okay, shuddup already!" The singer snaps, and coughs. "Home, home on the range, where the animals on death row queue!" He wailed, and Jasper winces, while the two men put arms around each other's shoulders and stumble off.

"Lezz go an' drin' ta tha, ma'e!" He yells, and Jasper watches them go, leaving him alone.

"… Well; that was somethin'." He mutters. He starts as a giggle sounds next to him.

"Yeah! They were funny!"

Oh no. Jasper knew that voice.

Turning, he almost squinted to avoid seeing it – shit. It was the Yellow Sun-dress. The very girl who'd been stalking him since he saw her at that battlefield. Why wouldn't she leave him alone? It's bad enough she only stayed away from him when he really felt like killing her. Right now he only felt like running half-way across the world to avoid her.

Plus, she's a woman, albeit a very little one and his mama always told him to treat them nicely; so he barely ever yelled at her, or called her names. Except Yellow Sun-dress; but that was like a nick-name, since she followed him like a stray, he could name her. But he really wish she'd stop it; it was annoying because she made him do stuff for her. And the stalking was pretty creepy too, she just sort of popped up wherever he went, like she already knew. Then she tried to talk with him, or get him to play a game with her. He always voted her tiggy, or hide-and-seek, considering that's what he felt like he was doing when it came to her.

This is was fifth city she'd followed him into. Not to mention numerous numbers of small towns over the time he'd known her. The person in question peeks up at him from the floppy yellow-banded straw hat on her head.

"… You're going to run, aren't you?" She asks quietly, and sighs as Jasper shoots past her. "Okay …."

Speeding down the street, Jasper even passes the already drunk drinking buddies, and veers off to the next street over.

It was crowded here, and Jasper quickly yanked the brim of his hat over his face again, and followed the crowd, searching for any hint of the Yellow Sun-dress. … But there was none. Thank god.

"Found you!" Yellow Sun-dress.

Fuck, how did he not notice!

"Where did you-!" He exclaims, and the Yellow Sun-dress points to a short alley-way … that went straight to where Jasper had stood before. Great; he ran all the way around the building and she took the short-cut straight through.

"How did I not see that …?" Jasper mutters to himself, and glares at the yellow sun-dress for shrugging and in a way answering his question. He didn't know how he didn't see that either. "Just leave me alone!" He snaps, and pushes through the crowd.

"Hey, wait-!" Jasper ignores the sun-dress, and continues cutting through. Was there some bloody circus on? What was with people …. Even though he was still intent on losing her, Jasper couldn't help it when his ears picked up her sharp voice, and a spike of anger and indignation. Turning, he searches the crowd. Why'd she go and yell out – there.

She stands between a young girl and two large men, who were swaying on their feet. Obviously; they had been harassing the girl; and sun-dress stepped in. Swearing and stomping out his cigarette – and giving a small apologetic look to an old woman walking passed him, though she doesn't spare him a glance – Jasper pushes through the crowd; intent on helping the girl that stalked him. How fucking stupid was he? Only as stupid as his ma taught him, s'pose.

He steps between the men and sun-dress, who smiles at him, and Jasper just scowls.

"Trouble, yobs?" He asked, looking at them both while trying to back away from the stench of alcohol. He missed getting drunk ….

"Hey! Mooooo-vah!" One of them says, glaring stupidly and Jasper scowls. He didn't miss getting that drunk. These were the kind of drunks he really hated. Ones that got so ploughed they just had to start causing trouble. The lust and snide pride at being bigger than the girls rolled off of them unpleasantly. Why did this town seem to have nothing but drunks willing to talk to him? That or sun-dress, who wasn't a very welcome conversationalist.

They both nudge each other, as though they planned, in their stumbling states to … yeah, they felt angry at him, for getting in the way, and eager; probably to fight him. Fuck. They planned to fight him. He hated fighting drunks – they tended to bite. Or maybe he just brought out that effect on people.

"Just go! I'll be fine; I've got my boyfriend!" Sun-dress says, and the girl, who looks a bit frightened, finally nods, and scurries off.

"Where joo gone sweet-tee?" One of the blokes call, and Jasper shoots him a dark look.

"Shut the fuck up, dumb-ass." He snaps, sending them a little fear. The man gives a whimper. Okay; maybe a lot of fear.

Wait a minute – did sun-dress say boyfriend? Who the hell was that – ohh … shit. Why him? Why was it always him in these situations?

"Hey! Look, dere's st-still a bitch 'ere!" One of them says, as though just noticing Sun-dress. Jasper rolled his eyes. Ma taught him better than to let a lady be insulted – even if the slur was slurred.

"You thirsty, sun-dress?" Jasper asks, too quickly for humans to hear, as he turns to her, and she thinks for a moment.

"I have a name!" She says, giggling, and Jasper simply blinks. Yellow Sun-dress did have a name … though Jasper didn't really know why she brought it up right now.

"I know, don't care." He replied bluntly, giving a sharp glare to the other two men, who were swaying and glaring behind them. A bit more fear was healthy to idiots, Jasper rationalised.

Sun-dress seems to take no offence. "Oh, okay. Yeah, I'm a little. But I don't eat humans. They … they were us." She answers, and Jasper rolls his eyes.

"Yes they were, and I eat 'em. So be useful while you stalk me and …." He mentions to the alleyway she had gone through to meet him.

She looks at him questioningly. "Through there? Okay," Sun-dress replies, and walks into it. Well, more like skips, to Jasper's embarrassment. He watches her, all the while sending calm and fear towards the men, just to keep them from running away.

Jasper then turns to them, staring glazed-eyed at them, mouths hanging open, except one squinted, as though trying to listen to what they had been saying. Calmed fear was just the trick to trick the body into a state of mental … nothingness. Just as Jasper ordered.

"Follow her through, boys." Jasper says, and both men look at each other, and Jasper sighs, walking behind them and giving each a push to make them trot over, not saying anything.

Though, since the first one's neck was snapped quickly by the vampire, the second one tried to scream, but Jasper's head-shot took care of that.

Man; he loved his rifle. Didn't like the silencer though.


	3. It's more like a few smokes for a wallet

Okay, things happen in this chapter.

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><p>Sun-dress crouched on the ground, looking at the two dead men Jasper had drained dry. Smoking, and leaning against the alley, Jasper doesn't spare her a look. He could feel the slight curiosity, if even boredom, from her.<p>

She wasn't interested in feeding. "You said you didn't drink human." He says, and Sun-dress nods, reaching out and poking one on their forehead.

"Oh, I don't. I'll go and get a stray cat or something later." She says, giving another poke and glances at him, looking. Jasper thought about the idea of eating cats. It appalled him – they probably had more diseases then humans did. Though less diseases then a whore. Still – it'd take a lot for him to eat animals; maybe if he was starving, or brain-washed. He glances at Sun-dress – what was _with_ her?

She was mentioning around her own mouth. "You got a little …." She mentions around her mouth again, and Jasper reaches up to swipe a hand over his, pulling it back and seeing the blood. Sloppy much?

"Oh, well, damn. Grab us one of those shirts," Jasper muttered, and made a face at his dirty hand while Sun-dress ripped a shirt from one of the deceased, and walked over and handed it to him. "Ta, luv." He said off-handed, but paused when he heard the girl giggle and felt how pleased she was. "Hey, I didn't mean anythin'-" He went to correct himself, and clamped his lips shut to save his smoke, which the girl had flicked teasingly.

"I know that!" She says quickly, and rocks back on her heels. "Just let a girl dream …." Jasper snorts.

"Hah, _girl_." He says, and glances at Sun-dress when she stops rocking instantly, shooting out panic and upset and fear, he sighs. "I didn't mean anythin' by that either." He lies, and Sun-dress just nods, now hurt and almost scared. "… Okay; so now I feel like sh-crap. What'll make you be as annoyin' as normal, sun-dress?" Jasper says gruffly, and Sun-dress mumbles and shrugs, a small bit of hope inside her. "What? Say it again?"

"I just … could you stop running?"

"Um, no."

"Oh … poop."

Jasper rolled his eyes as her usual pouting, and then gets ready to bolt in the other direction.

"On that note; see ya!"

–

Jasper strums his guitar, hard. Singing loudly and without a care for the notes.

He was pissed because he didn't know where his wallet went, and he forgot what city he was in, and he was in the slums so he could do whatever the fuck he wanted. No one spoke in the back streets anyway. Especially if Jasper was the topic of conversation.

Man – he loved the poor end of big cities, and even if the name escaped him, he knew this city was big. The feelings just sort of swirled inside of him, powering the chaos he revelled in. But slums were great, really, he loved them ever since he was a human solider; the working girls, the cheap tobacco, the cheap other stuff, the unquestioned gunshots, the blind eye to when Jasper felt the need to pick on someone … so good.

"I'm surrounded by liars, everywhere I turn," He booms, knowing his voice wasn't exactly something that should be sung at such a volume, jumping around the roof, surrounded by a circle of dead bodies, all drained dry. "I'm surrounded by imposters everywhere I turn," He continues, and stops dead as soon as the breeze blows pitifully in his direction. "I'm surrounded by – fuck."

Yellow sun-dress. He could almost smell the naïve, innocent happiness, instead of just feeling it. He turns, towards the only chimney his erratic jumping hadn't turned him to.

She peeked out from behind the brick pillar, blinking at him. He wonders for a moment how he could have missed her; her horrid yellow dress practically glowed in the glaring clouded sky.

"… Gonna stop bein' as creepy as normal and step out?" He asked. She might as well stop her unnerving peeking. Yellow sun-dress grins, and runs over to him without another word needed.

"I wanted to keep you company!" She says brightly. Jasper looks at her, beginning to pat himself down; before stopping. No smokes; that was the original reason he hunted down the skipping school-children that surrounded them. Skippers had smokes; usually. So it seemed those brats weren't even good skippers, and Jasper got no smokes. Plus he had to put up with Sun-dress. He felt a bad mood approaching.

"Here!" The sun-dress continues, holding out a … cigarette packet. "Those guys dropped them when they saw you!" She explains, pointing around them. Jasper looks at the packet closely, weighing their worth to him.

He takes those; she follows him again, this time thinking she could walk next to him, like she wasn't some sort of stalker. But he doesn't take them, she'll follow him anyway. It was just what she did.

Fuck it. Maybe he should care more about the fact that she followed him then just running away from her – but he didn't. Maybe it was an undead thing. Who knew? He didn't run into many of his kind these days.

"Ta," He says, grudgingly, and takes the packet with a tight nod, taking no time in lighting up and heading for the edge of the roof. A ciggy was always worth it – at least until he could be bothered to quit. Yellow sun-dress, predictably, follows him, smiling.

Jasper was slightly uncomfortable with the situation. He planned on going and blowing some time before night; when he could go flinch some money, or burn down a building, but what was he going to do with a girl with him?

Sure; she was eccentric and a complete stalker … but he had to show girls a good time, right? That's what his ma taught him.

And last time he checked, girls didn't like stealing or burning. Girls were boring.

"Wanna go to the pub?" He asked, slightly lost as to why he was letting the stalking girl follow him. Wait; he just answered his own question – ma taught him to treat a woman right. Even if it was a mini-woman. In a bright yellow dress. That stalked him.

"'Kay!"

Well; that was easy.

–

Jasper shifts slightly away from Yellow sun-dress – she reminded him of her name, again, but he wasn't listening – as the waitress gives them the usual spiel.

"… Just give me a beer." Jasper says, and doesn't bother with apologies when he realises he's interrupted the woman. She gives a nod anyway, and jolts the order down, then turns to sun-dress with a smile. Looks like the woman liked the idea of another woman in the pub, if Jasper was feeling relief. And he was. Though she wasn't really in the company of another woman anyway.

Sun-dress, though, was busy picking over the menu. Consider it was a page long, Jasper didn't really know if there was anything to consider. "Um … a … oh! Strawberry Surprise! That's sounds nice!" She beams at the woman who gives her a warmer nod and writes the order carefully.

"Coming right up!" She says, and walks off. Jasper gives a yawn, and glances at Yellow sun-dress; who catches his look and smiles. Jasper looks away.

"So …." He begins; and wasn't quite sure how to end. He was starting, though, to question the little sanity he had, that the wars had let him keep. Yellow sun-dress, though, gives him a sheepish look, and a nervous feeling.

"Question time?" She asked, and Jasper shrugged.

"Sure – why the hell do you follow me?" He snaps, composure changing completely to anger. The little darling asked for questions. She looks at the table, and tracing the grain of the wood.

"Well … when I was first … one of Us … I saw you – so I decided to find you! Found you!" She said, cheerfully, and pointed at Jasper, smiling. Jasper scowled.

"Do you know how creepy you sound? Besides; why don't you see someone else and find them!" He mimics her cheerful tone, which made him sound angrier than he intended. Sun-dress shrugs though, her nervousness increasing.

"But … I don't see anyone like you …." She mumbles, and Jasper feels a long-dry vein in his forehead throb.

"What do you mean by seein'!" He demands, stopping himself from shaking the cryptic girl. Sun-dress blinks.

"Um … I see things … you know; like _visions_." She says the last word in a whisper, leaning closer to him, more nervous than ever. Jasper leans back.

"… What?" He snaps, utterly confused. Sun-dress sighs.

"The future. I usually see only a few days or hours ahead … but the first time I really saw, when I was first one of us, it was me and you! And we were walking together!" She says, back to her cheerful happy self, and Jasper blinks.

"Walkin' together? You know you already make me walk with you, right? Maybe you saw that. Now you can leave me alone!" He says, though he puts on a more convincing act of being fake-happy, but he drops the BS smile as soon as he finishes speaking. Sun-dress shakes her head, Jasper's mockery not affecting her.

"Oh, no! We haven't walked like the way I see us, yet! You act much different than now. So it still hadn't happened! But I'm willing to wait …." Sun-dress says the last part quietly, so he ignores her for the more important things she says.

"Different? You can't change me. Don't try." He says, suddenly very angry. The nerve! She's the stalking little-

"Oh, no! I don't try at all!" Sun-dress says, and smiles at Jasper. "You change by your own free will." She assures him, looking happy, and Jasper scowls, very not happy with the information. What was wrong with the way he was now, hm? He didn't feel too much like changing himself right now. Blood and guts was a part of him. But something still bugged Jasper.

"… Prove it." He says suddenly, and Sun-dress blinks.

"I'm sorry, what?" She asks, and Jasper gestures at her.

"Prove you can see the future. Hacks are a dime a dozen." He says, critically, and Sun-dress oozes offence and anger.

"I'm not lying!" She insists, glaring at him for once. Jasper scoffs. "I'm not! …." Sun-dress stares into Jasper's unimpressed face. "… The waitress drops your drink. She falls and it breaks. But I don't care because it's not mine." She sniffs and turns her head away while crossing her arms, and Jasper's eyes narrow, while he rolls his eyes at her childishness.

"You …."

Crash! Thump!

"Ah!"

"Irene; you alright?"

Jasper turns in his seat … the waitress was on the floor, glass surrounding her … and her was only holding a deep red drink with an umbrella in it. Definitely not Jasper's; and the drink smelt strongly of strawberries ….

"See?" Sun-dress says, sounding proud. Jasper couldn't give a flying fuck. The girl – Irene, she was bleeding … right into Sun-dresses drink, which she clutched under her dripping chin, in her hand, the only hand that she didn't try and catch herself with. Typical; the sun-dress got a good dose of something she could drink in hers, and Jasper's was all over the floor.

Still … Jasper cleared his suddenly parched throat, licked his lips, and made to get up.

"No!" A small hand pushed his chest, and Jasper glared at the Yellow sun-dress. She was glaring right back, and holding him in place. "Don't you dare! I'm going to help her; you stay right put!" She warns, and Jasper scowls, about to protest. Just a little nip wouldn't hurt! "No!" She cuts him off, "I let you drink those other guys because they were bad people, and they were pushing that girl … that girl! Irene's that girl from before! I'm helping her!" Sun-dress says, and before Jasper could actually work out what she was saying; Sun-dress was across the room and helping Irene carefully to her feet, while holding her breath. Jasper rolled his eyes as he too held his breath.

Then Jasper realised Irene should have looked familiar. She was the girl that they had helped before, the one being pushed around by those dearly Jasper-style departed.

"You okay?" Sun-dress asks Irene from across the room, while Jasper broods in his seat. Damn … he was thirsty. What gave her the right to boss him around? He wasn't a push-over … though that would explain why he tolerated her.

Irene, instead of answering, runs over to Jasper, and quickly puts Sun-dresses drink on the table, before turning to where the yellow-clad lady had thrown herself into Jasper's lap, just before he planned on leaping at Irene, and smiling.

"Fine! Just let me clean up – I'm sorry about the drink; I'll get you a fresh one – I might've actually got some blood in yours-"

"It's fine! I don't think you did!" Sun-dress says, discreetly putting all her weight into elbowing Jasper to keep him in place. Jasper, miffed that the lady had managed to actually keep him pinned, both tried to look casual and throw her off of him at the same time. But so far he was having no luck digging his fingers into her back and pushing.

"Okay … um, hang on!" Irene says, and trots off, hands pressed to her bleeding chin, the smell of blood fanning away slowly.

"… You 'kay?" Sun-dress asks, getting up and looking at Jasper with concern rolling off her. Jasper gives a short nod, guessing that maybe restraining him was a good idea. Self-control was never one of his strong points, and a bar full of rowdy blokes was probably a bit too much for the salvageable remains of Jasper's conscience. He allows himself a small breath that he instantly regrets.

"Just … why is the smell still so strong?" Jasper hisses softly, and begins sniffing the air in earnest – the drink. Sun-dress and Jasper look at the drink at the same time, and Sun-dress swallows the sip she had taken slowly.

"How much blood is in there?" Jasper asks, and his nose wrinkles. He couldn't just very well grab a drink right here, could he? The place was full of men and Jasper didn't want to be labelled a fag in a pub like this for sucking on a bloke's neck, or wrist, or ankle or something.

"A lot." She whispers, and makes a face. "I don't want to drink it!" She squeals, and Jasper swipes it off her easily, taking a large mouthful and half of the drink along with it.

What he tastes makes his head spin. Strawberries, blood and … alcohol! Finally! For years he just watched the drunk men waltz out of the pubs, singing and laughing, now he could be one of them again! And without having to steal half of a liquor store again!

Jasper personally considered this a giant step in the history of his entire existence.

"Here!" Oh fuck, Irene was grinning with his blood-free beer. Sun-dress takes her drink back, and Jasper glares at her, then smiles at the waitress.

"Thanks." He says, and then begins to glare at his new drink.

"So! I hope those guys stopped harassing you!" Sun-dress pipes up suddenly, and Irene must've smiled; or looked some sort of happy. It was what Jasper felt from her and he couldn't be bothered looking up. He hated being near happy people when he wanted to brood – those assholes ruined his bad mood. Jasper was determined to make this angst session last though. How dare that bitch that turned her … he wanted alcohol. Bad. He liked alcohol, it was awesome, and why did he have to be denied ….

Irene was still as pleased as punch. Jasper wanted to punch her in the face, though he knew it was an empty threat and that he didn't mean it. "Oh, yeah! Thank you so much; I'm glad you two are okay though!"

"Really think I couldn't knock two drunk blokes on their asses?" Jasper cut in then, not the least bit sorry. "Please, it almost felt like a crime …."

Sun-dress, though, seemed quick to cover up for him. Foolish girl, he wasn't about to make this easy. Or touch his new drink. "Sorry about him! He's a little … um."

"Sober-" He supplied. That was true.

"Tired!" Sun-dress cut him off quickly, and kicked him under the table. He ignored her. "He's joking – he's tired!"

Irene saw through that one though. Maybe it only increased her confusion, because Jasper still wasn't touching that drink. "... Okay – but, you know; if you guys need any help around, I figure I owe you one, so-"

"I need a place," Jasper grunted, "where people go missin' but no-one asks questions-"

"Or the name of a cheap place to stay would be great!" Sun-dress needed to stop interrupting him – it was rude.

"Um … down-town for both your questions?" Jasper was finally sensing that unease he usually left people with from the Irene girl. It was about damn time. "The hotels are cheap … though they sort of put those 'dead-hooker' jokes into a whole 'nother light."

"That answered my next question." Jasper nodded.

"Okay, thank you! I think my boyfriend and I-"

"Boy-what?" That was the second time she said that and it still didn't make sense. How the hell did he give her that impression? He didn't even remember her name! … Though that was pretty intentional.

"- are just going to go now, um, here! For the drinks – and a tip." Sun-dress handed her a few hefty bills. Jasper's eye caught something she tucked into her pocket … wait a minute ….

Irene gushed though. "Thank you! So much! If you need anything else; I work here from one 'til one from Tuesdays 'til Thursdays, okay?"

"We will! Thank you!" Sun-dress chirped.

Jasper had other things on his mind. "... Did you just pay her from my wallet?"


	4. The knee just flew straight up

Hey, another chapter for you. Trust me, I hate me more than you do. Sorry for the wait. Alice goes cray as shit and Jasper is a soldier - short summary, I rock at it.

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><p>Great. Stuck in a crappy roach hotel, which he had decided to name the Hooker Hotel, with Yellow Sun-dress, that he had to pay for, after Sun-dress gave him back his wallet, that she had apparently 'picked up' and recognised. Jasper just coughed 'klepto' and ignored her for an hour. Plus Irene got him all excited and looking for dead hookers.<p>

And there weren't any.

To cut expenses, he asked for a single-roomer, not planning to sleep tonight, though he got the keys to a double bed and a sly wink from the young lady at the counter. He didn't decide to read into any of that.

"Hey, do you wanna go to the church? There's one in town!" Sun-dress flounced out of the bathroom for the first time in a while, and Jasper didn't bother looking down from the ceiling as he lounged on the bed.

"No – ya mean Kaichasey? Don't feel like gettin' myself hammered to a chair and poked with a cattle prod, thanks." Jasper hissed.

–

Jasper sniffed, catching a whiff of blood, as they walked into the church. Well, Jasper personally trudged along behind Sun-dress, who was dragging him. He silently counted down the seconds until his death ….

"Come on! I only want to pray for a bit!" She whined, and Jasper snorted. What a stupid idea. She might as well've said 'come on! I want to honour the very god who humans say wants every single non-human killed! Even though vampires are classed as non-human! And I am one!'

… Yeah; that's exactly what she was saying.

Kaichasey was the religion that had started Hunters – maniacal humans who believed that, to appease their God, Kai, they had to eradicate all Immortals and Animen. Immortals being vampires, succubi and demons, while Animen were those were-animal-things ….

Personally, Animen were a bit too 'alive' for Jasper to hang with. At least dead people didn't talk your ear off.

"... and Man shall flourish as The World flourishes, my Kai! As you smile from the Sky-World and bring …."

Okay – dead dead people didn't talk your ear off. Dead Sun-dresses, on the other hand, did.

Bored, Jasper looked around, feeling the urge to piss.

Spotting a suitable corner, Jasper dawdled over to it; hand in his pockets, until he stopped at the crook, and unzipped.

"And My Kai – WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

Jasper looked up, to where Sun-dress was now facing him, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. He smiled.

"Needa go." He answered, feeling slightly cheeky in the face of her obvious rage. She glared.

"Oh no you don't! You pee outside the temple!" She snapped, and Jasper snorted, though zipped up his fly obligingly.

"Not likely, girlie. I need to go, and what better place to relieve myself than at the place that's killed thousands of Beasts?" Jasper nonchalantly kicked over a thin and opulent candle-stand, watching it bounce off the wood and roll away, unlit. "Only thing this slaughter-house is good for." He spat. Sun-dress gasped, opening her mouth as Jasper felt her indignity and rage spike. He waved her off. "Yeah, yeah, 'how dare I', right?" Jasper scowled at her. "Just whose side are you on?" He asked, giving his best attempt at looking shrewd. "Because you sure seem dedicated to this thing," Jasper mentioned around the church as he walked up to her, smirking as she puts her hands on her hips and glares up at him, "even if they kill people like you, and me." He adds, watches as she frowns, though the confusion rolling off her told him another story.

"Um, no they don't. Followers of Kai work to make the world a better place for people to live in." She corrected him, and then rolled her eyes. "You just believe what everyone that isn't with Kai says-"Jasper snorts, cutting her off rudely.

"I believe what I see, lil' darlin'. And when I see a Kaichaser, I see a murderer of people they think we are inhuman and therefore evil." He growls. And it was true, on the battle-field, Jasper had seen many Hunters interrupt a fight – only to slaughter every man, women and child that weren't human, and arrest those who were for 'defying Kai'. Personally – Jasper reckoned that if there really was some guy in the sky; he was one sick bastard.

So instead he enjoyed concluding that 'Kai' was simply an excuse for men to do want they wanted and get away with it. Well, until they met the barrel of Jasper's gun. No-one got away from that.

Sun-dress had stared at him, and turned away simply, looking surprisingly devastated. Jasper raised an eyebrow, shock, disappointment and worry were the most common feelings coming from her. Jasper didn't really feel a need to change that – that meant he gave a shit.

"… Oh no … I didn't see this …." She mumbled, and Jasper raised an eyebrow. "You … don't believe in the Goodness of Kai … oh no …." She sighed, and this time Jasper rolled his eyes.

"There is no goodness for Us. We're monsters to them." Jasper said slowly, like she was a child. She didn't appreciate the condescending attitude.

"Prove it. Hacks are a dime a dozen." She growled. Jasper snorted, and brushed past her, walking right at to the front of the room, and edging gingerly past the giant representation of Kai, who was apparently a ranga, and walked on through to The Lists. They were always found behind that big-ass statue of Kai, no matter what church or temple it was in.

Sun-dress followed after him, looking furious, and huffed as he pointed to them.

"What is all that stuff?" She asked, pouting, and crossed her arms to further show how unimpressed she was with him. Jasper rolled his eyes.

"The Lists? Y'know, the names of all Beasts slaughtered for your lovely fuckin' Kai?" He elaborated, scoffing as she glaring at him fiercely.

"Liar! Slaughter and Kai don't even belong in the same sentence!" She screamed, only growling as Jasper taps the framed papers, repeatedly, until she storms closer to have a look. She reads, her eyes narrowed at first, before her face becomes blank with shock as she continues.

"... N-no …." She whispered, barely heard, and Jasper gave a bit of a cough. He didn't actually think things through with proving his point – he just didn't like being called a lair. Sure; he lied, but that didn't mean he'd have to get called out for it. But he didn't really like the underlying blankness of Sun-dresses feelings ….

"Um, yeah, actually. I've seen them kill. The Kaichaser Hunters. They have no remorse, and the only thing you can be glad about is the fact they don't defile their victims before or after killin' them – it's filth, to them." Jasper continues, though he's a bit edgy about what happens after you destroy a person's faith. Oh well – there's a first for everything.

"Kai would never – Kai's Book, wouldn't say anything about this …. This is sacrilege …." She said, her voice heightening in pitch as she suppresses tears. Jasper muffles his groan. Girl-tears were the worst. Unfortunately, for Sun-dress and her girl-tears, Jasper had a chance to continue to prove his point. And he was going to.

Walking up to one of Kai's books, laid open on a stand like some sort of treasure, Jasper flipped a few pages, and then begins to read out loud.

"Glory, Gold and God to all humans, should a Beast threat to take this away, eradicate the threat. For Kai this is so." He intones, emphasising the important words. Sun-dress gives another choked sob. Jasper glanced at her, sees her tiny shoulders shake, and glanced at the book, then glanced at her again. Crap, he thinks, going up to her and laying a hand on her shoulder.

"You okay? Maybe you should just forget what I said …." He suggested, smiling slightly, and relaxes when he sees her silent crying stop. "Okay-"

"I will destroy all the things." She growls, and before Jasper could ask her to finish her sentence, she rips away from him, storming back to the front of the temple, clawing the statue of Kai while she went. Jasper blinked, feeling the pure, innocent, betrayed rage wash over him.

This rage was untainted. Not with the feelings of sadness, or lust, or envy. Just fury. Jasper hisses out a breath as he attempts to brace himself. For once – he had to stay sane.

Then there's a scream and a great crash. Jasper runs to the front, looking at the bench that had splintered against the wall. He looks in the opposite direction, the direction it was thrown, and sees Sun – sees the woman panting, and growling.

"Lies!" She wails, running wildly to the next bench, hefting it, and tossing it with ease. "My whole life! Be good with Kai, Allie! Kai is the saviour!" She continued to tear the temple apart, and Jasper watches with interest the way she almost artfully mangles a candle-stand.

As she continues to destroy every semblance of a faith that Jasper gathers was a large part of her human life; he feels the rage from her, and almost laughs. Who thought he'd actually start to gain respect for Sun-dress of all people?

She, on the other hand, mindless to Jasper's growing admiration and approval, continues to maul a God she had prayed to since she was young."Lies! Lies, lies, lies! Lie to me! ME! No one lies to me! I will destroy all the things!" She screams, and tears up the carpets, tosses the piano, and then snaps her head in, for a spilt second, Jasper thinks in his direction. But no, it was the stature of Kai that she glares at, and advances on slowly.

"Lies … to me … even before … Kai never lied … now he always does …. No one does that. No one lies to me … not anymore." She mumbles now, glaring at the statue in a way that makes Jasper almost jealous. He reckons he'd give up his rifle for someone to glare at him like that. Prolly be the most vicious fight of his life; even end it, which would be no surprise. Such a glare directed at a large gold statue was sure to bring destruction. Jasper was eager to see it.

"Need some help?" He asked, hopefully. Kai was the motive for a lot of deaths of his mates, he'd be happy to help. She doesn't look at him, but shakes her head. "Ah …." Slightly disappointed, Jasper settled down to watch, though the show would make up for it. Her rage is glorious, Jasper was quickly realising.

But something made him pause. It was precious, it was a treasure … something rare. He quickly glanced around the room, wondering if any other person was here to witness it. He didn't want there to be, It was selfish, but he wanted only himself to see this. He wanted to protect it from prying eyes. He wanted her rage preserved. His own thoughts spooked him, and he quickly shook his head, ridding him, or trying to, of all forms of possessiveness.

She stops advancing a few feet from the statue, simply glaring. Jasper would have actually have a good heckle to speed things along if he wasn't overwhelmed by the sheer emotions she was battering him with. He'd had worse, but still, from just one person he was pretty sure this intenseness was a first.

"I'll kill you." She stated, and charged at the figure.

Jasper gives a rather wild cheer as she severed the head with one swipe of her hand, and throws it straight up through the roof. She continues to rip chucks of the statue, tossing them violently. Then Jasper heard the shouts.

"Fuck," He swears, looking around the temple quickly. There was a front entry … and a side-door! Thank fuck. Jasper heads towards it; knowing the shouts and feet could only belong to Hunters; realising something that wasn't human was ripping their temple apart. He grins at Sun-dress, who doesn't see him.

"Hey – you might want to skit; hunters are comin'." He calls, expecting her to grump, but follow him. She just rips off Kai's offered right hand and throw it through a window. He realises then that she can't hear him anymore. "... Shit."

He considers leaving her then – of course of does. What loyalty does he owe this girl? None. She's just some creepy-ass little girl that started stalking him because she's under the impression they'll be best pals. Well, maybe he should just let her get slapped by reality. Maybe he should leave her here, and get tied up by the Kai-fuckers.

Jasper turns, and looks at the side-door. He doesn't move though. Finally, when the stomping grew much closer; Jasper sighs.

He couldn't leave her here. Not to those men. Because he lied. The Hunters weren't above defiling their victims, and no matter how creepy and cheerful and generally unlike him the sun-dress was; leaving her here would be one of the worst things he'd ever done. Right up there with throwing that pregnant tween off that cliff that one time that involves a long story to explain.

Besides … her rage. He wanted it.

"Hey! Sun-dress!" He calls, and again, was ignored. He rolls his eyes then; knowing he could over-power her, as much as he'd rather not. If it were up to him; he'd like to see what she'd do after her anger drains away. Though now was not the time.

Without another word, he jumps over to her, and catching her around the middle right as she kicks in Kai's left knee with her yellow Mary Janes.

Instantly, she struggles against his hold. "No! Let go! I will destroy all the-"

"Things. I get it." Jasper rolls his eyes at her outburst. He lands on the ground in a bit of a crouch, before turning the still-enraged girl to face him. "Look – I'd love to see how your little fit ends, I would, really. But right now there are people after you that can very well kill us. We need to go." He explains, and blankets her rage with empty nothing, as much as it pained him, and tucked her against his side, and runs to the side-door, throwing it open.

"Filth!"

Jasper turns his head just in time to see a Hunter raise his gun. Grunting, and mostly on instinct, Jasper's hand shoots out, clawing the man across the face and blinding him as Jasper feels the cool wetness of the man's eyeballs on the tips of his fingers, dragging his nails into the eye sockets. The man goes down easily, and, without hesitation, Jasper grabs the money bag from his waist, and strips the cloak from him.

Sun-dress, still unresponsive wrapped in Jasper's feeling-blanket, says nothing as he pushes the money into her hand to carry so he could free his own, and tosses the cloak around them both. It could probably give them some cover.

"They've already gotten too close. We need to bolt – fast." He mumbles, mostly to himself, and darts over to the large wall surrounding the place. By himself; it'd take little effort for him to scale – with the useless Sun-dress, it'd take a little more than that.

Hefting her higher in his left arm, Jasper crouches, and springs up, gripping the top of the wall with his one free hand and letting out a growl as his body hits the wall painfully; on an angle that shields sun-dress.

"I'm too good to you." He hisses at her as she simply stares off, and flexes his arm, hoping it won't just lock under the strain of two bodies and – yes! His elbow bends. He manages to heave them both up; one-handed, and crouch on the thick wall.

Hoping he'd have at least a moment to gather himself; Jasper glances back and let slip a whole string of curses he probably shouldn't have if he'd cared about sun-dress's girlish ears at the moment. Which he didn't.

The wall just below them explodes from the force of the wooden cannonball, cracking the part at his feet, and Jasper jumps straight down to the surrounding forest, and doesn't bother doing anything but dragging sun-dress behind him as he wishes the Hunter-shit-heads won't aim for his guitar.

–

They'd been running for a while; but Jasper wasn't dumb enough to think he'd lost them. They knew these woods, and as much as he tried to veer wildly; they had the advantage.

One of them being the fact that Jasper hadn't had a smoke since the hooker-free hotel room. The other being he was holding onto one completely useless Sun-dress.

"Dammit … c'mon, a cliff, and river … somewhere to hide …." Jasper muttered under his breath, silently begging for a perfect place to stuff sun-dress along with his shit and try and loose the hunters trail.

"Liars … always …." Jasper didn't have to feel the sadness radiate from the girl to know she was crying softly; he could feel her shaking. Not bothering to waste his breath trying to comfort her, since he knew she was still too far gone to completely acknowledge him. His pressure of the numbness was all he could offer at the moment, and not even very well, as he was concentrating on escaping.

Jasper glanced behind him, grabbing the hood of the cloak so he could see, and fucking wished he hadn't.

Vroom! Nnrrrr … nnrrrrr ….

Buggies! They were using wood-buggies to shoot through the forest with almost the same speed as a Beast could. Jasper hated wood-buggies; those things with their stout build and four thick wheels … he'd get one if he could. But they were the perfect device to scoot around a rough terrain; though they were usually used as a sport vehicle; raced around specially-made tracks.

Thunk, thunk, thunk!

Three salted bullets, which he could identify from the lemony, bleach-like smell, buried themselves in the tree Jasper had just passed. Which meant the hunters knew they were dealing with vampires. And they were gaining. If they got their hands on them … Jasper knew they'd be more than cattle prods and bruises for the Beasts that ripped up their church. Granted, Jasper didn't actually have part in the ripping bit; but it was all the same to a Hunter. Beasts were the same foul, evil Beasts to them.

Boom! Wizz-zz-zz!

Jasper winced as the salted bullets hit and ricocheted off a large boulder to his left. Salted bullets, unlike their name suggested, weren't salted with anything, except a compound that had the tenancy to rip an undead to shreds. They passed right through, and just kept eating at the flesh; like an acid. A painful acid. And it couldn't be cleaned with anything but actual salt water, right from the sea. Something about micro-organisms that hadn't kept Jasper awake long enough to understand.

"Fuck …." Jasper knew he could dive into the under-growth, the thickest part of the woods he could, and he could lose them, temporarily. They probably wouldn't let up until they found at least one undead. Under the cloak, Jasper reckoned that one Beast was all the Hunters thought they were after. "The things I do for you …." Jasper growls at the still-muttering sun-dress.

With that – he dived straight into the bush.

It hurt, a lot. The branches scratched, and the leaves scraped his eyes, and Jasper kept pushing, forcing back the thick plants, and trying to get as deep as possible. Feeling like any second a hunter would shoot out a few salted rounds into his chest, Jasper stamped and cursed his way to a large oak. This should do, he thinks.

With that, he used his childhood ability to climb trees like a monkey and get both him and sun-dress a few feet up the trunk.

He stops, just a moment, to collect himself, glances at the dazed girl, and sighs. He had to do it; because he needed her down to earth with him right now.

He raises his hand, and slaps her face, hard. It had the desired effect of both making him feel like a wife beater, and getting her attention.

"Owwie!" She whines, pressing her hands to her cheek, and almost dropping the money bag Jasper forgot she was carrying. "Why did you-" He glares at her.

"No time. Take my things. Stay here. Don't move or speak or even breathe for any fuckin' reason. Do you understand?" He hisses, raising an eyebrow as she blinks. Then realisation dawns on her face.

"The church! The protectors!" It takes Jasper a moment to realise she meant Hunters. "They're coming after me, aren't they? Did you say you'd leave me here for them? … I-I understand …." She looks like she was about to cry again, and Jasper allows himself to feel confused.

"What? Stop being weir-" Oh. She thought he was going to rat her out. "No! I'm not – I'm tryin' to save you! I'll lead them away, okay? But havin' you with me'll just slow me down. Stay here, with my things. If they try and get you; run, just run. With my things. My things are important; keep them safe. Okay?" He asks, gripping her shoulders as they both stand on the tree branch. She looks around wildly, obviously still trying to wrap her head around things.

"Wait – what?" No doubt her head was spinning right now. "Can't we just stay here?"

"No. They'll find us. You stay here, quietly, while I get them away." Jasper ordered, "Then get back to the Hooker Hotel and wait. Understand?" He glared at her then, not used to an order going unfulfilled and not letting this one do that.

"Hang on!" Alice panicked, "I can't let you – it's my fault!"

Jasper pauses. That was the truth.

"Yeah, it is. So do what I say, and stop talkin'!" He mutters, shoving the money bag still in her fingers into her pocket. He slips his guitar off, and shoves it into her bewildered hands, along with his duffle bag. Sun-dress gapes like a fish, and Jasper simply throws the cloak around her shoulders, and finally, reaches around his neck, and pulls off his dog tags.

He knew he needed to hurry, and Hunters could gun them both down at any moment now. But for the life of him, he couldn't help but study the cool silver tags for a moment. He drops the necklace over sun-dress's head, and she snaps her mouth shut.

Jasper turns, and gets ready to leave. He imparts a little wisdom before he does, though. "If you must; ditch my case, okay? You should keep the money and cloak, though. And my tags. Never let go of them; do you understand? I've just given you my most important possession." He says, and he sees her nod quickly.

"I-I know; I won't let them go. Promise." She breathes, and he gives a nod.

"Good." Then he jumps, straight down, passing the branches and leaves, and lands in a crouch. Snapping his head up, he takes a breath, smelling the Buggie fumes and human sweat not too far off. He could still lead them away though.

Determined, he crashes through the bush, the opposite way he came, trying to make as much noise to lead them away. He doubted the valiant Hunters would think he was hiding something; bravery was always the kindest word for stupidity. Luckily Jasper wasn't stupid.

"There! Get the threat!"

Jasper thought they'd take longer. The bullets are let off to wreak their havoc. He dives most of the rounds, shielding himself behind a tree from the rest. In the back of his mind; Jasper wondered if Sun-dress knew he was lying.

Only one of them was coming out of this alive, and she definitely wasn't waiting for him to come back. She was waiting for him to be captured – she'd be safe then.

When the next round of shots fire up; Jasper congratulates himself on not screaming as a shot pieces his shoulder, and another clips his thigh.

The burn spreads quickly through his limbs, and he gets a face-full of dirt as he lands. The pain eats at him, and almost itches with its consistency. Paralysed with pain, and the burning acid stench, Jasper grits his teeth as he's hefted up, and thrown over the back of a buggy like a flogged-to-death horse.

Jasper was rather proud of his last conscious thought: She better die before letting go of my tags.

–

The she in question was gripping said tags rather tightly, actually, and it would be a struggle to pry them from her even if she were dead. Well; properly dead.

"Where is he …?" She whispers to herself, huddled behind his case and his bag and fingering the tags. "Jasper … you need to come back, because I saw you and me, okay … and I know you don't like it, but I know you like me …."

She sat there sniffling, for a while, huddled in the trees and waiting silently for him to come back.

She sat there, for hours, watching and waiting. When it got dark, she refused to acknowledge it, refused to let the Pictures even think about starting. Because that's what the Picture was – they were her thoughts; she had the control to ignore them. She slipped down from the tree, landing on the ground and heading towards the noises of life her heightened hearing picked up.

The cloaked girl ran through the streets of the town, keeping her eyes wide open.

"He's not coming back, he's not coming back …." She chanted. How could he not come back? She was keeping all his things! He'd come back soon, right? She felt a flicker. It was the flicker that would start the Pictures, in her head. It'd tell her something, something in the future – if she let it.

She didn't. Because if she let the Pictures in … it was bad. It was unnatural, it was a curse.

"I gotta find him … I've gotta give him his stuff back …." She reminded herself, nodding determinedly.

"Oh, hey, I didn't think you'd be here!" The excited voice makes her look up, and see Irene, dressed in her barmaid's outfit, and waving. The smaller girl feels a smile touch her lips for the first time since Jasper ruined all her values and beliefs.

She had an idea. "Hello! I -" She stopped the I forgot all about you, from spilling out to her mouth in her haste. Instead, she runs up to the girl, beaming, and clasped both of Irene's hand in hers, a sisterly gesture that seemed to please the blonde woman. "I was looking for you! Do you know the Kaichasey church near here?"

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><p>I made up this religion because I particularly want to use an existing one. No real reason I just wanted to. Irene will pop up a lot sorry if you don't like her but ... I've already written all her scenes and she's important so.<p> 


	5. Good Farm Good People

Well again long wait but I've finished the majority of this story, so I'll post most of what I have over the next few days hopefully!

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><p>It had been … two days? Three nights, probably. Maybe a few hours too. Jasper wasn't too sure anymore. The cattle prod knocked him right out, so he didn't have a good grasp of time, or consciousness, for that matter.<p>

Though, he knew today he was going to be put on display; some sort of warning for the followers of the church. Look out – this is what being dead does to you. Well, Jasper thought, you'd look a right side better if you weren't dead in the hands of fuckers like these.

Jasper was a little fuzzy on the details, but from what he heard, and what was spat at him, lots of people were going to be oogling him real soon.

"People are coming up." The woman's voice is filled with glee, which makes Jasper's skin crawl. He was sot of glad he was blindfolded – she was probably fuck-ugly. That sucked – Jasper was always left with the ugly chick.

"Bring It up now." It has been a while since he'd been called an It. And the circumstances were the exact opposite, but very similar. With Maria, and her fury. That was a lifetime ago.

Focusing on the present, Jasper feels like giving a grunt as the men heave him up, still lashed to the chair with ropes, while thick, ones Jasper could snap if he had the strength. Too bad he didn't.

"Ladies, Gentleman, and children! Today, we have a special presentation!" The woman from before declares, and Jasper decides to ignore her from here on, mostly because he was busy concentrating on the light behind the blindfold. He was somewhere bright – different from where he was held before. It smelt different too, cleaner, while his other little cosy holding cell he was pretty sure used to be a broom closet.

Jasper had been kept in the room where The Lists were hung, and they had been trying to get his name added to them; but he refused to give it.

So that lead to the prod, and the bags of Lemon Salt, the name for the compound used to lace the salted bullets, being heaped onto his legs. Despite his jeans; which were the only clothes the Hunters had left him with – Jasper was very happy about his foresight with the tags – the Lemon Salt still burned right through to his skin, making the blood well up and trickle onto the floor.

It didn't help that he still had the salt bags on his legs, or that now the bags had been soaked completely with his blood, either.

He keeps his head low, concentrating not on the human commotions, the gasps and cries he heard, the anger, revulsion, fear and pride he felt from them; but the outside. Was he in the same church Sun-dress had torn up? He fucking hoped so. Then he'd know the round-about layout of the place.

Though, he doubted he'd find a way out of this. Not for the first time, Jasper's thoughts float to Sun-dress. She had gotten away, the Hunters hadn't mentioned another of his sinful kind, and he was sure they would if they'd gotten the chance.

That was a good thing, Jasper decides, considering the girl had his tags with her, and he's gotten himself all captured for her. She definitely owed that to him, at the very least.

Jasper spends the next hour in a haze of throbbing legs, and stinging prod marks. The sharp ache was finally making an appearance, and while Jasper was proud of his high pain-threshold, he wished it was a bit higher.

It mixes with the hostile, frightened, disgusted feelings of the room, only making the sensations worse. The woman quotes half the fucking book of Kai, at least, that's how long it seems to Jasper. He was familiar with the procedure, having slaughtered a few Kai-fuckers in the middle of their Beast-bashing.

Hurt made his head spin, and he almost felt nauseous. But Jasper was determined not to let it show. So he sits, stock-still, while he hears the hissing, booing, and recitations of Kai's book. He actually thinks someone spat at him once or twice, but with his blinding headache he couldn't be sure.

After a while – which felt like years to him – he feels the people leave, the strong feelings thinning out; moving away.

But one remained; a person who felt guilty and upset. Jasper suppresses a growl. If it was who he thought ….

"Kai be with you, little miss. Are you not leaving yet? You shouldn't work yourself up over It, there's refreshments outside." A man's voice, concern over the person – girl, staying. Jasper wants to growl; wondering if that'd increase her want to leave.

"No, thank you. Um, I'll stay a bit – Kai be with you." Jasper knew that voice. The man moves off, the footsteps fading outside. Sun-dress steps closer.

"Ya shouldn't be here, dumb-ass." Jasper growls. He was furious. How could she endanger herself like this!? Endanger his tags? Actually – his tags were safe, now he thought about it; they didn't know his name, so even if they found them on her, they'd most likely toss them. Better they were forgotten then in the hands of some stranger; the idea made his skin crawl.

"I'm sorry – but I'm getting you out!" She declares. Jasper feels like, if he could, he would raise an eyebrow.

"I doubt … we'll live, _sweetie_." Jasper winced at his own words; he was Aliceted to slur, and his mocking endearment didn't have a lot of punch to it. Frankly, it was embarrassing. This usually only happened when he was drunk or barely conscious. Neither would do well at the present.

There was silence for a moment while they both realised Jasper's sense of speech wasn't … very good at all. "Wow, that's really cute." Sun-dress mutters, and Jasper scowls.

"Focus." He hisses, wishing he could glare at her effectively. He grunts when he feels her tug at the blindfold, before pulling it away. He grunts a thank you, and blinks at the sudden light. Squinting in an attempt to see, he sighs in relief as she drags the Lemon Salt gingerly from his legs; careful not to touch it directly. After the black spots fade slightly, he sees her, clad in her sun-dress and the black cloak, and standing before him, smiling a tiny smile and standing with her back to the sunlight – shielding his eyes.

"It's okay about the men! They all go to pray for Kai at the eleventh hour; and the woman pray halfway through that hour too. We're safe right now, except for the younger recruits – but they're on rounds for another twenty minutes." Sun-dress explained. Jasper felt like either laughing or cursing.

They seriously left such a big hole in their security? They were either way too cocky … or just plain stupid. And how the hell did anyone not notice* (Yeah, stupid reason, but did you know in World War II the Allies believed that the Japanese couldn't see in the dark due to their slanted eyes? They literally thought this would save them from a night raid by the Japanese. Then the Japanese bombed them at night.)? Jasper was sure he heard movement all around the place in his time here, never stopping at some hour.

"You see; you're not supposed to move on the eleventh hour, or you disrespect Kai – this is the first time I have, actually. Sort of exciting." Jasper not felt like beating his head against a wall. Sure enough, Sun-dress was very excited, and scared, and nervous, and a little bit happy.

He was breathing hard, trying to swallow enough air to stop his vision from swimming. "How am I … getting out of this?" He asked, panting, dubious of her ability to maul people and run away fast enough to live. Especially since Jasper doubted he himself could move very easily.

"Me and Irene are going to shove you into a wagon. She's bringing it up now. You don't mind, do you?" She looks concerned, and her nervousness increases. Jasper snorted; like he was in a position to disagree.

He groans, the healing process taking its sweet time to mend him. Sun-dress gives a nod, realising he had other things to worry about and runs out of his line of sight; though he's not worried. He concentrates on breathing through the pain. "... My tags?" Jasper asked laboriously, and sees her step up with a sharp little knife, crouching down to hack at his ties.

"Don't worry! I've been keeping them really safe – your guitar and duffle are in the wagon, too!" She replies with more cheer than Jasper likes, and doesn't explain this mysterious wagon, but he nods his gratitude anyway.

–

Jasper gave a long suffering sigh as he was laid on the floor of the wagon, and very nearly drowned with sea water. Sun-dress was much to thorough in his scrub down, and only let up after he asked her sarcastically to preserve his innocence. But the lemon salt was washed off of him and he was happy enough with that.

He didn't even mind that Sun-dress put his head on her lap as they rode. He was out of the church, his guitar and his duffel were next to him, he got a cool cloak on the way, and Sun-dress hadn't used any of the gold coins from the pouch he'd nicked. He didn't even care about where they were going; Sun-dress had only vaguely informed him it was a farm house.

"... Hey, Jasper?" Sun-dress sounded curious, as though she was unsure whether Jasper was awake. That was stupid, why wouldn't he be – oh, his eyes were closed.

"Yeah?" At least most of the pain had buggered off; he'd stopped slurring by now. The wagon rocked and jerked erratically, but that was something Jasper was used to long before he was immortal.

There was silence, just long enough for Sun-dress to slide her thin fingers in his hair, and for him to relax into the action. "I know this is a bad time to ask, and you're tired, and probably don't like me right now …" Jasper rolled his closed eyes as she rambled, "and I know you probably even hate me right now-"

"Get to the point, I haven't slept in days and your lap is comfy." Jasper cut her off, shifting his head slightly, and fighting back a yawn. Personally, Jasper thought he was allowed to be snappy, he was extremely tired, and his body was practically dead weight by now. He struggled to focus on her words.

Sun-dress, though had no problem with continuing to suddenly become unsure of her own tongue. "Oh, um, can I, um, will you, only if you want to, but-"

"What?" Jasper growled, his teeth clenching so hard his jaw hurt. It didn't help that she kept giving off nervousness, and shyness, and all those weak Jasper absolutely hated. He rather preferred when she was idiotically happy, feeling her emotions like this made his knees weak. That might have been the prolonged contact with the salt though. Though, he was curious. What was she going to ask of him?

"I'm not going to ask you to stop running." For a moment, Jasper actually fought a smile. He had a feeling that was what she was going to ask. Though right now he didn't know how he would have answered that. "But … can you address me by name? Could you call me Alice?" She asked, her voice as quiet, and Jasper could almost see the anticipation and nerves humming. Alice was Yellow Sun-dress's name – thing is, did he feel like calling her that?

"... I don't owe you anythin'." Jasper grunted.

"I know …." She replied.

"And this is a pretty bad time." Jasper agreed to her comment before.

"Yeah …." She muttered, her voice getting quieter each time.

"But okay." What else could he say? If Sun-dress wanted to be Alice, than it just meant less syllables to call her by. Well, Jasper supposed he wouldn't have said yes in different circumstances, in fact, he wouldn't have cared about her opinion, but now, while he was finally away from lemon salt and Hunters, he found he didn't really mind.

He felt a smile as her happiness came springing back out, as though it was just in hiding, and felt the soothing fingers in his hair again.

"Thank you …."

Jasper barely heard her speak, he was so damn exhausted. But it took him a while to fall really asleep, and until then, he got comfortable on Alice's lap, and let her fingers scratch his scalp.

Finally, when he was Aliceting to nod off, he felt her breath next to his ear. For an insane second, Jasper thought she was going to kiss him.

"And I'm sorry for when we get there." She murmured in a puff of air.

Jasper kept his eyes closed. But he was pretty sure that was going to keep him up all night.

–

Jasper didn't remember much of when they arrived at the small fishing village, he was in a state of 'I'm-sleeping-while-conscious' and he didn't want anyone disturbing him.

Irene had been manning the driving at the front of the wagon, and when they got there, he heard all different kinds of voices. Though he was pretty sure at least half of them were just his imagination.

Though he knew what was happening, he neither realised or cared about a few things. They carried him inside, for instance, into a house that smelt like hay and warmth, but Jasper couldn't tell which scent came from where. He didn't care though, why Alice's scent, and tired but pleased feelings were the only thing left after a click signified a door was closed, and no one else was there.

Well, he found out later anyway; and that made him care.

–

They had been at the farm house of Irene's Aunt and Uncle for a few days now, and Jasper understood what Alice had apologised for, and why she was the only one left in the room on the first night.

She'd told them they were lovers, and said so to him when she thought he was asleep. Alice-crossed, hands-clutching, poetry-sprouting lovers.

Not only did Jasper hate that word – not the meaning, much, the actual sound of it – but he also had to put up with having to sleep in the same room as her, to keep up appearances, which she also secretly told him.

He had agreed to call the girl by her actual name, yes. She had saved him, that too.

But she also stalked him for a good few months, yes. She was also the reason he needed saving, that too.

Of course, it had been difficult to explain their situation. Mostly because – after drinking seventy-five packs of donor's blood – Jasper was out cold for the first two days he was in the farmhouse.

When he woke though, it was dark, and Alice was curled like a cat next to him. Jasper hated cats; mostly because they happened to hate him back. It made him muse about the time his neighbour's sopping wet cat blamed him for being dropped down a well! Well – Jasper did drop it; but weren't cats supposed to land on their feet? The fact that it was submerged in water was irrelevant.

At present, even if Alice wasn't a cat; Jasper none-the-less didn't want to see her right now.

So he left the room, stumbled downstairs, realised Alice must have given him a shirt, since he was wearing one, and found himself sitting next to an old man in front of a fireplace. Unlike people his own age; Jasper was rather fond of old coots – he considered himself one. Plus, they told a great load of stories.

"How're you tonight, grandpa?" Jasper asked amicably, taking a seat on the ground beside the man's chair.

"Usual, boy." The man grunted. "I've lived here my whole life." He added, only glancing down once at the rustle of Jasper's tobacco paper.

Jasper hummed as he picked and plucked his tobacco into a line on the wax paper. "Must be shit borin'."

"It is, it is … my elder brother," the man nodded to a line of framed pictures on the mantle Jasper didn't bother to lift his head to see, "he went to war. Never came back."

"That commonly blows." Jasper said, knowing more than he'd like to.

"I miss him sometimes." The man sighed wistfully. Jasper wondered if this old man had anyone else to talk to these days. "… I wish he'd stayed, helped me and let me help him."

Jasper raised an eyebrow at the Grandpa's wishful thinking. "He wouldn't have wanted to." He said softly, licking along the paper.

"How's that?" This made the old man look at him fully, slightly offended, Jasper could tell, by his indignation and slight raising of his voice.

"War makes a boy proud, in the beginning." Jasper explained, lighting up with his matchbox, and puffing out smoke like the man did from his pipe. "Wants to protect his family, and home. He couldn't do that by sittin' on his thumbs and babyin' his brother."

The man relaxed slightly, and his confusion grew stronger. He asked; "You know this?"

"As a fact." Jasper nodded smartly, jabbing his chest. "I was in a war too."

"Really? So young …." The man sounded impressed, and slightly disbelieving, which only made Jasper scowl.

"No, I ain't." He said, knowing well he sounded defensive. As much as he liked skipping the grey hairs or aching joints and simply going onto immortality – the constant suspicion was rather grating. He loathed being belittled. What he did he wasn't proud of – but he did it. He went to war with boys like him, and _that_ made him proud. For fuck's sake – please, just give him one last bit of _pride_.

"Oh …" the man sounded slightly embarrassed, which was better than an apology to Jasper, "well; maybe you can be young again."

The sudden kindness in the man's tone compared to what he was saying discomforted Jasper, and he knew it was his time to leave. It wasn't like he could be young again. Stubbing out his smoke, already half burnt, on the sole of his boot, he stood to take his leave. "Um, right – good night, old man."

Almost sulking, Jasper slipped back into his shared bedroom, closing the door carefully. He stretches out onto the floor, on the blankets spread out there.

Ever the Southern boy, Jasper had taken the floor as soon as he was able to stand – which had been five hours ago, while he was still sort of unconscious. Alice hadn't argued, though she had looked at him sternly, and kicked all the blankets to the floor, not breaking eye contact, as though she was daring him to argue, before going back to sleep. He simply threw one of the blankets back at her, and they'd left it at that.

Now, though, he lazes on the floor and waits for the dawn to approach, he idly wonders if she would have minded he had continued to sleep with her in the same bed.

* * *

><p>I guess you could consider this part a filler, you could consider this whole story a filler. Filler of time! Haha.<p> 


	6. A Soldier's Wife

Okay so I'm gonna tell you now there will be a few OC's but I don't think they'll bother you much.

* * *

><p>That morning, Jasper was woken by the sun in his face, and an empty room – save himself. Deciding that today he was up to the task of moving a little further, he hauled himself up, and glanced around. It was obviously a guest room, there was nothing too personal about it – but it was nice, homely.<p>

Quickly, though, Jasper searched for signs of life around the house. He followed the content emotions that led to a kitchen.

"Did you sleep well, young one?" Jasper had been cautiously eyeing the room, and turned when a woman, radiating the contentment he felt, smiled up at him. She was wrinkled and tiny, even smaller than Alice.

He nodded to her, trailing after her as she set the basket on the table. "Ah, yeah, cheers ma'am." He smiled politely at her. He was no fool, in a home, the woman ruled. "I'd like to thank you on my own and my …" Jasper struggles to find the right word, "companion's behalf." He adds finally, smiling again, and sitting when she motions him to.

"For two youths in love? What else is a sentimental old woman to do?" She asked good-naturedly, and sits next to him, picking out clothes and folding them with a deftness that had Jasper's respect for her quick fingers. Then he remembered his goals of the day. Apologise for taking up their home, clear up the Alice misunderstanding, ditch her, and get the hell out of there.

"Actually …" Jasper began with another smile, "we're not really …." His protests fell on deaf ears though, as she soon stands, looking at him kindly.

"Ah!" She hands him a duster, "I wouldn't usually ask this of guests – but I have a bad back and we're short on tall young ones like you." She smiles at her own pun, and Jasper reacts in kind. "Could you wipe those pictures down?" She motions to the large bookshelf, and Jasper nods silently, getting himself up and heading over to the slightly dusty woodwork. He wasn't about to refuse the old lady, and he decided it was best to get the job done before bringing up his concerns.

She beams as she follows after him, watching as he inspects the pictures as he cleans them. Though, not very well, he reckons, as he places them back and refuses to point out his lack of cleaning expertise as a matter of pride. "Thank you, dear." She adds. Jasper assures her he's happy to help, and tries to move quickly through the chore. But something makes him pause on one photo.

A man and a woman stand side-by-side. They both smile, both young. The man wears a uniform, and it's a uniform that Jasper was painfully familiar with; the army uniform of their country. The old woman smiles. "It's my husband and I – I live with my brother-in-law these days … I'm an old widow, but … I can't help but see him in you, a soldier too, he was. But long gone, even before the D-Era war." She explains, tracing her fingers lovingly over the picture. Jasper blinks, the man was before his time. But his wife could tell he was a soldier? Had the old man, her husband's brother, told her? There hadn't been a war in twenty odd years now.

"You can tell?" Jasper asks. The woman turns and goes back to the washing.

She gives him a sly smile, though. "Only the loyal ones."

"Cheers, sweet ma'am." Jasper dips his head to her, pleased, and knowing if he were a boy he'd be blushing right now. Even he wasn't above flattery. Especially not such high praise.

"And it's with the intuition of a soldier's wife that I can see another lover of our men-in-arms." She winked, and Jasper's smile faltered when he realised who the woman was talking about. He tries to cover it with a cough though, and the woman assumes he was embarrassed. "You're little bluebell is quite a sweet thing, isn't she?" The woman walks to the window, smiling cheekily, and beckons Jasper to follow, which he does. He peers outside and sees Alice hanging bedsheets, twirling gracefully around to pick up each sheet before spinning back to peg them to the line.

He realises this would be a hard task to extract himself from Alice in the old woman's eyes. "Ah … she can get a bit annoying, actually …." He says truthfully, turning to the lady in time for her to give him a firm whack on the shoulder, though she doesn't seem very serious.

"Oh, come now – you can't call her that!" She chided, smiling. "Not when she guards your tags so closely! … You don't give a girl your dog collar unless you're dead or serious." Her eyes twinkled slightly, and her humour mixed with melancholy. "Or both!" The sadness past though, and Jasper dare not mention the temporariness of Alice's hold on his tags. Even though he had just now remembered she had them – he certainly wasn't going to let her keep them.

Instead, he gave a shrug, now cursing himself on not asking how much Alice had told these kindly old folk. "... I'm one of them, all right …." He muttered; thinking of the dead part of that comment.

"Vampires come and go here – I house strays when they ask for shelter from Hunters." Jasper is taken aback by the way the kind woman almost spits the last word. "Those shits usually stir up their blasphemous trouble here. Makes me sick." She added venomously. Jasper silently brushes over his thighs, now clad in another pair of his jeans, but felt the ghost burn of the lemon salt.

"Yeah, me too." He answered with honesty. One day he planned to see that church burnt. Maybe he'd put Alice inside it. He glanced at the woman, though, remembering what she had said at first. "… So you know …." He Aliceted, taking a seat at the table once more, as she did. She picks up her washing again as she speaks.

"I do, boy. Don't think I can't see your dead veins. Mine almost mirror yours!" She chuckled, and Jasper smiled. "Now boy, I won't ask how you became so weak, I already have a strong guess of how, when my dear niece and your sweetie brought you here. But I can tell you now you're free to stay as long as you like." She assured him, which didn't actually assure him at all. She looks at him though, before he could argue, and he notices she wasn't entirely seeing him. "Dawn Era veterans are treated with respect in this house – my husband would want nothing less for his brothers, even if you wouldn't have met." She said, her voice steady, but quieter. It leaves a certain air in the room, one that Jasper wasn't ready to break.

He mulls over his predicament. Couldn't tell the lady his real relationship with Alice, and surely now couldn't let her know he planned on leaving … this fucked his plans to shit.

"... Thank ya, ma'am." Jasper finally settled on. "That's mighty kind of you to say." He smiled.

"It's no problem." She waved her wizened hand flippantly. "Now – I hope you doves don't plan on running off too soon!" She giggled, and Jasper raised an eyebrow, wondering if she could tell his flight or fight response was leaning a bit to the former …. "I have a few chores, and the winter's coming in. It'd be wrong for me to see you off to frost and snow." She said, eyeing him sternly. The sternness seemed a bit extreme for simply avoidance of bad weather, and Jasper couldn't guess as to what else she seemed to mean.

"Actually, ma'am, that won't be a problem …." He said, deciding to try and flee the farm house as politely as he could manage. 'I'd like to get out of your hair as soon as possible …."

"None of that!" She smiled, though she still seemed to think he didn't understand her. "My house – my rules, young man." Finally, she revealed her little secret. "That little bluebell needs clothes, you silly man. Keep your priorities straight, now." She reminded him firmly. Jasper blinked, the girl didn't have clothes? What the hell kind of girl was Alice anyway? Even the most tom-boy of a lady Jasper remembered vaguely from his human years had a small house full of shirts and pants. He thought it was the same for the undead girls too. Than again, he could be wrong ….

He tried to look chastened under her expression though. "… Of course, ma'am." He managed. Her look warmed considerably.

"Charlotte, dear, it's Charlotte." She says, and it's only now Jasper remembered they were never introduced. His smile is slightly less hard to fake.

"Well, ma'am, I'm in no position to refuse you." He says, laughing lightly as she agrees. "Jasper Whitlock, Mrs." He added, offering a hand.

She shakes it. "Jasper, then."

They're interrupted when a door slams shut and Alice skips into the room, a washing basket on her hip. Jasper surveys her. She didn't look at all different – still yellow, and still ridiculously happy. He wasn't pleased.

"I'm done!" She chirps, putting the basket down and giving a cheery spin. "I hung out every piece –" she then notices Jasper. Instantly, she skips to him, "you're up! How do you feel?" She asked, standing in front of him. He glances at Charlotte, who was smiling, and giving off a strong sense of nostalgia. No doubt this was a very heart-warming scene to her rose-coloured eyes.

Jasper decides he had better put on a dab of civility. "Okay, good, fine." He nods. "I feel better."

Charlotte gives them a wink, and moves to the door, speaking before Jasper could protest, "I'll leave you two alone …."

Alice waves at her, and turns to Jasper with a smile, stepping back as he stand. "Okay!" She clapped her hands, and notices his tense stance. "Are you sure you're alright?" She asks.

He grabs her by the upper arms before he realises his actions. "Why did you lie to her?" He hissed, his temper flaring. "Was 'lovers' seriously all you could think of?" he scoffed, "I think even you could have done better than that."

She had frozen as soon as he'd touched her, and now her eyes are glued to the floor. "Sorry … I didn't mean to upset you …."

He didn't give her hurt feelings, and shaking voice a thought, he was much too busy dealing out his indignation and fury. "Upset me? Seriously?" He gave an empty laugh at that, "You ripped apart your own church and I took the fall." He growled, feeling like giving her a hard shake wouldn't be out of the question.

She had lied about them, and while that hadn't very much bothered Jasper, he didn't know the lady housing them was the wife of the soldier, or that Alice would pick such an uncomfortable lie. Of course, there was also the fact that he was put on the pinnacle of pain for three days because she decided to throw a temper tantrum. Jasper felt he was very much allowed to be angry at her. At her ignorance about a religion she actually followed, her concern over him – which was more than a little disconcerting, her ability to fucking rage the likes of which Jasper had never been witness to, and the fact that he still couldn't do more than grab her and snarl at her.

"… I know." Her head was bowed, and Jasper realised the limbs he were holding were shaking. "Thank you." She whispered. He released her, and stepped around the chair – wanting to give himself space to calm down. For someone who committed acts of war crime no sane person would, he couldn't bring himself to hurt the girl. And he didn't know why.

"Give me my tags back." He said, deciding to get to his main priority at the moment. Tags, ditch, leave, that was his new plan. Unfortunately it looked to be a very long one.

Alice looked up at him, and Jasper felt the fear, and the longing from her, and it made him take another step back. He didn't want to feel those sorts of things coming from a person that was looking at him. Well, fear was okay, that was sort of normal. "Let me keep them." She said, imploring with her wide eyes. Jasper actually snorted. Keep his tags? She seriously wanted to? Those things had been drenched in all kinds of blood.

"Fuck no." He felt his anger raise. He kept those tags, those were tags he had from his human life, those tags were his source of pride. He'd be buried with those around his neck, and some little freaky girl wasn't about to sway him. No matter how much blood was on them. He stepped close to her, and left nary an inch between them. "You give me my tags, an' maybe I'll let our lil' charade continue." He said softly. This wasn't something anyone else should hear. This was a very dangerous deal, and Jasper was feeling very dangerous.

Alice does nothing for a while, aside from look at him, and, for all his skill of reading people, he couldn't pick apart her gaze for the lack of life in him. It was almost as hard to separate her swirling emotions – so he didn't even try and go there.

Finally, she drops her gaze, and lifts her right hand. On it were his tags, wrapped around her skinny wrist. As soon as he saw them, he relaxed his jaw that he hadn't even noticed he had gritted. She unwinds the chain, and before she hands it to him, she brings them to her lips, kissing them. It's a tender action; he's barely familiar with it. She only lets go when they were safely in his offered hand.

Jasper feel a flash of irritation, gripping the chain tightly, "Why did you have to-" He cuts himself off, glaring at her as she only looks at him sadly. As he pockets them, Charlotte decides to trot back into the room. "I'm back – is there something wrong?" Jasper steps away from Alice then, and wonders uninterestedly if Charlotte had seen him take his tags back. Surely he wasn't dead serious anymore? Still, he couldn't look at her, and turns his attention to the window, watching the bedsheets shift in the lazy breeze.

"No, Miss." Alice says, her voice quiet, and Jasper hears footsteps that move away from him. "I'm going to sweep outside – there's a lot of leaves …."

Jasper glances back to see Charlotte pet the girl's shoulder. "Oh, thank you dear, such a good girl." She says sincerely.

Alice perks up. "No problem!" She says with a smile, then glances back at Jasper, who meets her gaze and says nothing. Her mood obviously deflates. "Bye …." She whispers, and slips from the room. He doesn't feel guilty – really.

Jasper turns his attention to the washing outside again, as Charlotte tugs him back to his seat, which he allows. "Now what happened there, Jasper?" She asked, taking the seat next to him, and blocking the washing from sight.

He turns to her, and puts on a smile. "Nothin' to worry about." He said pleasantly. "Me and the lil' darlin' just needed to clear up a misunderstandin'." He explained.

She studies him for a while, which almost confirms his suspicion about the tags. "Well, I hope it was nothing major …." She said forwardly.

Jasper waves a hand and gives her another charming smile. "No, no, nothin' of the sort." He decides that he's has enough of this conversation, and broaches a new topic. "Anythin' you need done around here Alice's quick little fingers haven't taken care of already?" He asks, giving Charlotte a grin that she reflects back.

"There is the issue of firewood …." The woman says, and Jasper shook his head, already getting out of his seat.

"Say no more and point me in the direction of the nearest axe." He assures her, walking to the door as she follows him, laughing lightly.

"Thank you, just outside the back door." She instructs, and, before Jasper can carry out his ingenious escape from her prying eyes, she takes his shoulder gently, and he turns to face her. "Maybe give your 'little darling' a kiss on your way out?" She hints, looking at him expectantly.

Jasper weighs his options. "Maybe." He finally says.

She gives him a smart nod, and shoos him away. He smiles to her once more, and goes through the hall way that connects the front door to the back door, and steps out. He surveys the yard. There was no back fence, only a side one made of stones to divide the one neighbour to the left. The farm Alicets at the front of the house, which is separated from the township road by a long stretch of a path of dirt. The farm definitely ends at the back, though, as the only thing here is the washing line and a lazing cat Jasper glares at.

He spots the axe laying against the door frame, but doesn't grab it just yet, continuing his assessment of the outside. The grass wasn't exactly short, but not too long, either. When he glances to the right, his eyes land on Alice, half-heartedly sweeping the patch of dust next to him at the door.

She doesn't look up at him as he takes a step closer to her. Though he makes her when he takes her chin and lifts her head up. She looks at him, her eyes even wider than normal. "Jasper …." She murmurs, and he notices she sucked in a breath and held it. He presses his stubbly cheek to her smooth one, and puts his lips near her ear.

"Behave while I'm gone – no more makin' fantastic stories about our torrid love affair." He warns, and releases her chin, pulling away from her, and taking the axe from its position at the door.

He was walking to the woods the house was sitting at, and only barely hears her whispered, "Okay …."

–

Jasper didn't really know how long he was out in the woods, inspecting trees, and whether or not there were some sort of boundaries to claim ownership. He spent most of the time, though, ditching the axe, and strolling around with a cigarette hanging from his lips. He'd forgotten how great was solitude – considering he now knew Alice wouldn't be stalking him helping around the house.

Soon, though, he got to work, picking a very much dead tree to chop into pieces, and then some random branches from other trees he reckoned were a bit too low to be useful. As he worked, he weighed up his thoughts. Maybe he didn't really have that much right to snap at Alice – when he thought about it, nothing she really did seemed entirely her fault, following him or ripping apart the church. It seemed her little visions were her power, akin to Jasper's emotion manipulating.

So, because of her powers, she had seen Jasper, who was apparently a pretty good bloke to her, and decided to find him out. He guessed he could see the logic in that – she didn't seem to be a very normal vampire – what with her weird-ass diet that he hoped she'd stop while around him. The idea of drinking animal blood made his stomach churn. So, he highly doubted she ever met the vampire who made her – he couldn't think of a sire who would allow their child to drink from animals. Without a sire, Jasper guessed even he looked more appealing than spending an eternity alone and unguided, lost ….

Though, Jasper doubted it was just her undead life that she was strange. He really didn't know what kind of person would decide stalking another person would ever be a good way to know them. But he could take a shot at how exactly she had come to that conclusion. Not to sound too amazing – but it was the way she made her bed that tipped Jasper off.

At the Hooker Hotel, the first thing Alice had done when they got their room was rip the sheets off the bed, and make it again. He hadn't asked, but she had decided to explain anyway, that she liked to make her bed a certain way. At the time, he hadn't cared, and looked out the window as she worked.

But he had glanced back once, not really for any reason, and watched as she folded a corner of the sheet and tucked it under the mattress. That had rang a very alarmed bell in his mind. It wasn't exactly army-style, the way she made it, but it wasn't exactly the type of fold a normal person would put in when making a bed. It was the kind of way people who were hospitalised made their beds.

So, she was once in the loony bin. For a while, in seemed, if it was engrained in her head on making her bed like that. Jasper allowed that to sink in for a while. Maybe stalking him wasn't seen as weird to her, then. Besides – he knew he wasn't the most approachable of people, maybe he scared her off enough to only follow him from a distance.

He unashamedly used his undead strength to drag the wood to the edge of the forest, where the house was. By the time he was finished ambling around and dragging trees, sometimes simply stabbing the axe into a trunk and having a smoke, it had gotten significantly darker. He decides to leave the tree branches today, and stacks the ready-to-burn logs of the dead tree against the house. Alice was long since absent by then, and he worked in grateful peace.

The church she'd ripped apart … he wondered if they could fix the statue. He hoped not – it was damn ugly. He felt just a touch of guilt at that. It really wasn't Alice's fault she lost it. Well, maybe it was a little bit her fault. But he'd provoked her, he knew he had. That was why he'd led them away; if he had just kept his mouth shut and let her pray, or even just refused to come with her, she wouldn't have had her whole belief system turned on its head. Then again, he wasn't exactly sorry he did it. If he hadn't told her, she probably would've found out the hard way. Harder way.

He finished stacking, and grabbed a few logs to take inside, as he walks into the kitchen, and is bombarded by the smell of a meat stew cooking.

Charlotte was chatting with Alice, who was watching a pot with two metal mugs in it warm on the fire. Charlotte stirred the brew on the stove, enough for two and they both noticed Jasper when he added the logs to the fire. They greeted him, then went back to their conversation. Jasper wasn't exactly interested, and only nodded to Alice as she handed him one of the warmed mugs. It was donor blood from the local hospital, she explained. He just nodded his thanks. She was quieter around him, and he wondered if he had to apologise, he really hoped not because he was very bad at making them sound sincere.

He only stuck around until Charlotte had sat down to eat, and headed to his room.

–

Jasper had been lounging on his blankets when Alice had finally come in. She glanced at him, and gave him a smile. He decided not to return it. That seemed to cow her, and she spent the rest of the time changing behind a curtain and climbing into bed from the bottom, to avoid having to step over him.

She turned out the light before she asked him anything. "Are you badly angry?"

That amused Jasper, as he watched the light from the window stream in. "Is there a way to be angry in a goodly sense?" He asked.

"You know –" There was anger in her voice now, and Jasper could sense her frustration there too. Looks like she was sick of saying sorry. "I didn't ask you to help me!" She snapped, no doubt thinking of her emotional snap at the church.

He raised an eyebrow, and he knew she could see it. "Would you rather I hadn't?"

She voice was back to cowed now. "No …." The room fell silent, and Jasper heard the front door open and close, and some keys rattle. A familiar scent invaded his nose. Grandpa was back.

Jasper focused on the task at hand, and decided to give her a break. "I'm not angry at you right now, if it helps." He offered, but was only met with her confusion.

"But you said-"

He cut her off. "I asked if you could be goodly angry," he grinned then, feeling like a boy, "I didn't say I was."

"That's not funny." She muttered, and he gave a chuckle anyway. "… Um, there's a Kai-church in the next town …." His smile disappeared.

"Why are you tellin' me this?" He said roughly, sitting up now to look at her from over the bed. She hadn't laid down, and looked at him with a sad sort of seriousness.

"They have a really bad sketch of you," she began, and Jasper felt his heart sink, "asking if anyone has seen the 'dangerous beast'." She made a face at the last two words, and Jasper flopped down onto the blankets, covering his eyes with his arm.

He fought the on-coming headache and tried to think. They were looking for him. They probably wanted to kill him. Now he'd have to go into hiding forever until they gave up. "… Fuck." He muttered.

The bed creaked, and Jasper moved his arm to allow him to see out of one eye. Alice peered over the side of the bed at him. "What are we going to do?"

That got his attention. "We?" He still wanted to leave her here.

"Well – it's my fault you were taken," she seemed flustered, but very serious, "you tried to lead them away! I want to help you!"

He wondered how much help she would be. Probably not very much. Then he wondered if she'd actually let him say no. "… Fine. We'll lay low here." He squinted as tried to think out a plan. "Unless there are Kai-fuckers here?" He asked.

The reply was very quiet. "Just me."

That made him sit up and Alicee at her. "Seriously?" After he was tortured by them? After he proved that, for all her devotion, her fellow believers wouldn't pause in trying to kill her? What was up with this girl? What was she in the hospital for exactly? Being stupid?

"Kai is …" she voice was shaking, "I don't have anything else." She admitted. Jasper glanced at where one of her hands grabbed tightly at her wrist. She clung to a murderous religion because that was all she had. Jasper didn't even want to know what that felt like, and, thankfully, it was obviously a little too big for even Alice to comprehend, because he certainly wasn't feeling it from her.

He glanced at her hands one more time, clutching something that wasn't there, before shoving a hand in his pocket. "Dammit!" He muttered, pulling out his tags and tossing them to her. Before he woke up … she had his tags. They meant something to her, he knew that now. He didn't know exactly what, but, he guessed it made sense to entrust one of his most important belongings to a crazy stalker. At least then he knew she would look after them. "You have these, okay? Don't …." Jasper paused. Don't what? Leave him? Pinch his tags and run? Decide maybe that he wasn't worth keeping a promise to? "Just forget Kai." He said, laying back down.

"I'll try." She said. He heard the metal clinking at she wound it around her wrist again. "Thank you." She added, and before he realised it, she'd ducked down from the bed and kissed him.

He blinked for a bit, as she settled back into the bed. Did that actually just happen? "Go to sleep." He finally muttered, getting up and heading out the door. He definitely wasn't staying in there now.

He headed down the stairs, and into the living room, glancing across the hall to the kitchen, which was dark and empty.

Just like yesterday, the old man sat at his chair, and Jasper sat next to him. "Hey, Grandpa. Good to see you again." He said politely. He was otherwise too occupied shoving the kiss right into a small box marked 'don't open' in his head to be entirely friendly. None the less, he wanted someone to talk to. "You're absent in the day." He commented.

"I run a shop in town, Long John's," The old man said. Jasper guessed it was his name, "got to keep an eye on it. Met Charlotte, I heard." John said. He was still smoking that pipe of his, and Jasper most definitely joined in the smoking.

"I have." Jasper gave a shrug as he blew out a lung-full of smoke. Maybe it was a ghost feeling from his human life, but smoking calmed him down just as well as when he actually needed to breathe. "A nice woman." He said. The man nodded.

"She is. Practically raised me when my brother left. Always been the closest thing to an angel."

Jasper wondered if John still saw her as a sister. He doubted it, considering it seemed neither of them married. "No doubt. Didn't want to ask her – but she stayed with her man, huh?" Jasper asked, remembering the old ring on the woman's necklace matched the one on the photographed woman's finger. John nodded again.

"Since his bunkmate delivered the black letter." John seemed to be done talking about his brother now. "How are you and your Mrs?" He asked. Jasper's mind instantly goes to the kiss. Was it still a kiss if it lasted two seconds? Was it still a kiss if he didn't respond? He sure wished he knew.

"Not a Mrs by far." He said, then remembered Charlotte's questions after she had come back in. Maybe she'd put John up to asking. Jasper rolled his eyes – she was sweet, but damn was she nosy. "… We're fine, bit of a tiff for a moment there, that's all." He assured him.

John only gave a grunt. "So be it, boy. You should get back to her." He advised. Jasper put an ear out upstairs, hearing Charlotte's quiet breathes, and no sound or movement from his own room. Alice must have conked out by now, surely.

"Yeah …" Jasper got to his feet and snubbed out his smoke, "'til next time, Grandpa John."

* * *

><p>So ... I killed Peter off. Maybe that's why Jasper is the way he is.<p> 


	7. A Fair

I swear to god 'dreamt' is a word. I'm Australian so I use UK English. Anyway *Jasper flashback*

* * *

><p>That night, Jasper dreamt of the war. It was one of the largest wars of the world. It was against the humans, who had long since believed they had been the superior species since the amoeba, and the Beasts; made up of the animen, the fey and the immortals. They fought hard, and it was gruelling.<p>

It was Beast against Man, and everyone was on a side.

Jasper had fought as soon as he was able. For the human side, of course, he had been human at the time. At sixteen, he had been boyishly excited to kill something that, in all the fables and legends, could not be killed.

That was, until, after three years, he became one.

A vampire, turned by a woman in white, named Maria.

He was so invested in the fact that anything not human, was dangerous. Wrong, and sick and unnatural – hell, back then he even thought he understood the fucking Kai-chasers. But then he was on the side of the things he despised, under strict orders to stay loyal to it. His mind disintegrated.

He wasn't a very smart boy, but had always had a knack for saying the right thing and guessing the correct personality of a person. He raised in the ranks and fought for her, rather valiantly, he thought. Until he realised she was a real fucking bitch, and that he was nothing a pawn to her. He really hated chess as it was, so he had no qualms about setting free a select few of his soldiers, and setting her and their residence on fire.

He didn't stick around to watch her burn.

He went renegade then – taking out whichever side of whichever battle he fucking felt like. Then he had his own style of a party. He enjoyed it. Sometimes he did it for money – but he didn't whore out his killings often.

Then the war stopped. Well – not exactly stopped so much as became very political, and the fighting part of it became very scattered and small. Even in the twenty years after it, Jasper was still finding a blood-drenched scene to pick through every now and then. He called it retirement – but really, he was just waiting for another war to spring up. Surely it would – people loved conflict, didn't matter if you were dead, could turn into an animal, use magic or none of the above.

So this was Jasper waiting.

–

When Jasper woke up, the sun was barely raising. Now he felt a little less disconcerted – he was a farmer before a soldier, either way, he was used to getting up at the crack of dawn. It felt unnatural to sleep in any later.

Alice was still sleeping quite peacefully in the bed, which was the only thing Jasper cared to notice as he left the room.

He went downstairs, and was only half-surprised to see Charlotte was already up, looking over a basket of eggs.

"Mornin'." He greeted, touching his fingers to his forehead in some sort of half salute. He also idly wondered where Alice kept the donor blood. He didn't plan on having any, it was bad to drink so often, as you'd soon get accustomed to it, and weak without it, but there was also advantages to knowing where things were.

"Good morning, Jasper!" Charlotte seemed pleasantly surprised to see him. "I thought you'd sleep a bit longer – Alice takes a while to rouse herself." She said with a wink that Jasper decided was better left forgotten.

"I'm from the country." He explained, and then looked around. The old woman seemed to be the only one here, "Need any help around?" He asked. He was used to the chores.

"The cow's done, and the chickens, as you can see" she counted the animals off on her fingers as she mentioned to the eggs, "… just the pigs to feed and the horse to groom." She said finally. Jasper grinned.

"I really like horses." He blurted out honestly.

She smiled, "Well then, by all means." She waved him to the back door, which they both headed to together. Jasper stopped just short of the exit.

"Um, Charlotte," he tried not to seem to nervous, "I'd like to ask a favour …."

"Ask away, my boy." She said kindly.

"Alice hates gettin' dirty …" he stared, remembering her less-than-savoury thoughts of unkempt places, "don't suppose you'll let her take of the pigs?" he asked, and felt a boyish smile split his face. She'd surely dread such a job, but would feel too obligated to say no. It'd be funny to see what happened.

Charlotte laughed. "… Well now, just a little innocent mischief?" She checked slyly.

Jasper shrugged. "She's got nothin' 'gainst pigs that I know of." He added, which was true, Alice didn't talk about any animals outside rabbits, butterflies and possums.

"Well, an extra hand with the feed is always welcome." She decided, giving Jasper a smart nod that he happily returned.

"Thanks, ma." He said, walking outside with her to the horse. She only gave him a pleased smile.

–

Jasper had finished watering, feeding and brushing down the horse, an old girl called Daisy because of her yellow mane and white coat, though it had gotten slightly grey with age.

"Jasper!" It was Alice, looking extremely cross and extremely dishevelled. "Charlotte said that you said I should do this!" She accused her voice deep in anger.

"What?" Jasper bit back a smile as he looked her over. "Charlotte said that I said you should walk around covered in filth?" He scoffed, taking a drag of his cigarette. And filth she was indeed covered in – she had donned blue overalls slightly too big for her, that had to be rolled up at the ankles, and an old shirt that was obviously not hers. He was almost surprised to see her in anything that wasn't yellow. He supposed that was pretty monumental. She looked almost normal now – though she had her ridiculously floppy hat on still. He snickered as he yelled, "Lies!"

"No! Feeding the pigs, you bully!" Alice snapped, hands on her hips in comical fury. It was nothing near the sheer anger she had donned at the church, but he was still rather entertained. She was pretty fun when she wasn't tailing him.

"It's not my fault your weakness is ridiculous." He said with a shrug. It was true – if the girl was afraid to get dirty, how did she survive so long on the road?

She then crossed her skinny arms over her chest and huffed. It seems she was in the sulking stage. "Your face is ridiculous." She muttered.

He gave another shrug and breathed in another smoke. "Kept in mind." He said simply.

"You have to make it up to me!" This idea seemed to please her, and she grinned pleasantly. He didn't like the sound of it.

"Why?"

"Because I didn't mean it, of course!" She insisted.

He was confused. "Mean what?" He asked.

"To say that we were together …." Her voice softened, and it seemed even her stupid hat flopped with depression. Jasper could tell she wasn't one to hold a grudge. "But you didn't come back, and I thought you were dead and I needed help, Jasper." She insisted, looking straight at him now.

He blinked. "What?" He asked again. It seemed she didn't know that he wasn't one for holding grudges for more than a week or two, "I'm over that, as long as I don't have to act like it." He said airily. She seemed relived, putting a hand to her stomach and letting out a sigh. Then she squealed as she wiped the mud off her hands back onto the overalls.

"Well – right now you're acting like a kid!" She snapped, back to being offended on behalf of her appearance. Jasper was still enjoying this too much to be very sorry.

"So?" He asked expectantly. She only glared. "What did you mean by makin' it up to you?" He elaborated.

This seemed to cheer her right up, and she even gave a clap. "They hold a Spring Fair in the town! You should take me!" She declared. He flopped back against the house, taking another drag.

He felt the need to visit his childhood again as he asked, "Why?"

"Because it sounds fun." Alice says, not skipping a beat as she skipped right into his trap, "Plus Irene is coming down to say hi and you should thank her."

"Why?"

"Because it was her wagon and her family that helped us both."

"Why?"

She caught into his petulant game the second time around. "If you keep going I shan't warm up your blood." Alice snapped suddenly. "You can eat it cold, or burnt." She threatened. Jasper grimaced, knowing that was probably true – he had very little patience for fire unless it was burning something he didn't like. Or lighting up a ciggy.

But he was a little sore his game was being cut short. "Fine." He conceded. "We'll go to the fair." He said.

She gave a small squeal, and clapped her hands in excitement, trying to stick her arms out in a bid to avoid the mud and gunk on her clothes. "It's in a week and we're to help with the preparations! Let's go down there now!" She grabbed his arm and started pulling. He watches the scars on his arms turn a lighter white from the strength of her grip. She doesn't seem to notice. "They're hanging the lanterns right now and I want to help!" She says excitedly.

"Fine." Then he felt a tug at his lips, "Don't you think you should change first? I wouldn't go into town with clothes like that." He said innocently, getting a slap on the shoulder for his efforts.

–

The lantern-hanging was almost enjoyable – Jasper would have said completely enjoyable if Alice hadn't decided to run her mouth off five minutes into stringing up lamps, no matter how many times Jasper tried to butt in and stop her.

A man had been talking to them, telling them he was glad some young travellers were taking their time to help out with Charlotte and attend the fair, when he'd asked about the state Jasper had been brought in. It ashamed him to know that it was doubtful no-one had been left out when the gossip of the injured stranger went around town. He didn't want to be seen as weak, but there was really no other choice.

Alice regaled the man with the story. "So we're running from Kai-chasers-"

"Hey," Jasper grunted, which was ignored as he glanced between her, perched on top of a ladder, and the man who stood on top of a few boxes testing the string of lights. He only seemed interested, no anger for his fellow humans, and no disgust in the undead. Jasper wasn't about to let his guard down though.

"Because Jasper helped me, you see," Alice continued, unabashed by his guttural warning growl. Didn't this girl have any self preservation instincts? "They tied him up and beat him because of it!" She looks down at Jasper now, with large sad eyes. He rolled his own and looks away.

He begins to speak before he's cut off. "I think that's enough –"

"Isn't that awful?" Alice demanded passionately.

Jasper had been ready to beat his head against a wall than find out what the answer was. The man she was talking to this time, though, sneered. Jasper thought he was going to have to throw away the ladder he was holding for Alice and bolt, if the man hadn't said what he did.

"Disgusting! Didn't we go through all of that carnage in the Dawn Era? I'm completely human myself, but one of my best mates was a bull, and I can tell you he was the greatest bloke I've ever known! Kai-fuckers need to learn how to sit down and shut it!"

Jasper had loudly agreed with him on the last part, and Alice had fallen silent. While Jasper admitted it almost bothered him that she was still affected by the slurs – it wasn't like she was part of that fucking mess anymore, right? So she really had no need to make everything awkward by acting so hurt for the rest of the evening. It was her fault for blabbing, anyway.

But she didn't talk unless directly spoken to until they got back to Charlotte's home, where she was coaxed out of her mood by the lady's tactful questions about her day.

Alice was rather cheery by the time she had warmed her bag of blood – Jasper had declined, and Charlotte was seated at the table. "When do you want to go to the fair?" She asked the now-bouncy girl beside her.

She grinned. "Early!" She chirped. "I want to see everything! I haven't been to a fair since –" Jasper, who had politely been sitting next to them, glances at Alice as she falters, "… since I was very little." She said, staring off into space. Jasper clicked his fingers in front of her face for attention, and she snapped back into focus with a small and slightly dazed smile.

Charlotte laughs at their actions, then asked, "What will you wear?" The woman had a glint in her eyes, one that told Jasper she would just love to answer the question herself. He didn't want to be sitting here all of a sudden – it was a woman thing. He'd never been very good at it.

Alice seemed perplexed with the question. "Um, this …?" She said uncertainly, pulling at her yellow dress. Jasper's nose wrinkled on instinct, he could feel Charlotte's horror at her answer.

"Oh heavens no!" Charlotte was appalled, and held a slight bit of pity, Jasper noticed. "My dear girl, no proper woman wears the same dress twice!" She chides, though there was humour in her. "Come now, we will go and pick you out a nice new one." She suggested, which was obviously enticing to Alice if her longing was anything to do with it.

"No!" Alice said insistently, "No, I couldn't trouble you!" She glances at Jasper then, almost stern but needing reassurance. "Right?" She asked. He agreed readily, though added that a dress of a different colour could come in handy.

Alice looked hurt, and smoothed her hand over her dress. "What's wrong with yellow?" She mumbled to Jasper, who only rolled his eyes.

Charlotte, though, was looking twice as stern as Alice had tried to. "I won't take no for an answer!" She said, but spotting Alice's reluctance, she offered an alternative, "At the very least, I'll hunt around and see if John has something that doesn't sell so well – he has a few dresses in the back of his shop." She explained gently.

Alice looked lost. "But …" She glanced at Jasper, obviously hoping he would back her up. He was mulling over the pros and cons of getting mixed up in this.

Charlotte didn't let him choose a side. "Young lady, this is a female's matter, Jasper won't be having a say in it," she said, to which Jasper nodded again, trying to look at Alice as though she should have known that.

Then Alice looks down, and Jasper realises why. It was one of the darker secrets between them, something terrible that had happened once on a rainy day …. It was what made her uncomfortable with anything elaborately feminine; she never thought she deserved it. Jasper notes in the back of his head that he knew a lot about a person he considered a personal pain in the ass.

He almost feels like groaning, as Marian continues to try and coax Alice into picking a new dress. Slightly embarrassed, he reached under the table. It take a while, mostly because of his own reluctance, but he assured himself if was for Marian's sake; the poor woman would be guilt-ridden if she thought she had caused Alice's distress. So he reached for her hand, and squeezed it.

Almost instantly, Alice squeezes back. Then they both focus on what Marian says next, "And since you are lodging in my house, neither will you." She added, obviously still talking about who had a say in the matter of dresses.

This made Jasper grin and Alice didn't even glance at him when she kicked him under the table. He stamped on her foot as she nodded. She poked him for good measure. He gave her a pinch, and she scooted her chair away from him in a mock huff. But their hands never let go of the other's.

Charlotte nodded as the matter was settled. "Everyone in town is looking forward to meeting you all; we don't get many new faces that stay around for long." She looked excited with the prospect of showing off her lodges. Jasper was even more amused since Alice's silent defeat in their bullying round just before.

Alice spoke again; "… Can I at the least fix it myself?" She asked, "It's rare to find something that fits me, and if I can hem it up myself, and choose the style, I'd like that …. Please?" She asked. Her voice had gone very quiet, and Jasper sensed she was also extremely hopeful. It made him think back to the first day he had been up – Charlotte had mentioned something about clothes …. Jasper himself had a few shirts and things in his duffel bag, but he knew it was different for women. Well, it was different for Alice, anyhow, who always took pride in her beloved yellow dress.

Charlotte look over-the-moon, and she took Alice's hand, leading her out of the room. In the process, Jasper's hand is taken from hers. He lets it fall limply to his side, not quite sure of why it felt so warm, or tingled so much. Did she mange to zap him? He looks at her, and notices that while she looks at Charlotte, her hand is clenched tightly.

"Of course you can sew it up! Come now, what colour and what length …" She continued chatting, and Alice got even more excited.

Jasper took the time to call, "Not yellow!" after them.

"Quiet Jasper!" The two women shouted in unison.

–

It had been a week since they had helped hang the lanterns, and since then Jasper had regularly helped with the heavy lifting for the fair preparations, while Alice opted to assist in decorating. Also, all through the week, Jasper had been sent out of the house on menial errands – once going to Long John's simply to tell him what Charlotte would be making for dinner that night, which had amused them both – just so the two woman could plan and primp Alice's dress for the fair.

There was so much commotion about the bloody thing Jasper reckoned that half the time the ladies thought that they were making a wedding dress. Then that thought made him slightly uneasy and he moved onto other subjects.

But now it was the day of the fair, and Jasper had been instructed to escort Alice to it – they'd be there the whole day and most of the night. Charlotte would meet up with them at a more appropriate time. He was wearing something new himself – his cleanest pants, newly-shined shoes, and a dressy shirt that John had given him silently as they watched the fire one night.

John was sitting in his usual chair now, Jasper for once taking a seat off the floor and on the couch. "Ready for the fair?" John asked, puffing away, "People from other towns come as well – it's a large event out here." He chuckled, "There's not much else to do."

Jasper glanced up the stairs for the thirtieth time. Alice and Charlotte sure were taking their time. He just wanted this to be over with. "I guess. They sell alcohol?" He asked. That was the more important question. The hard labour on the farm and at the town had distracted him – but the no doubt what will be relaxed atmosphere would kill him. He just wasn't used to it any more. Another reason he liked big city slums – they were all too poor, tense and desperate to be so lax. "Alcohol would be good." He muttered.

John snorted. "You might get away with it." He conceded.

It was Jasper's turn to snort. "I'm old enough, old man."

"We both know that's not true." John spoke in a knowing tone.

Jasper didn't like the subject of his aged. He lied about it once when it mattered, back when he still breathed. "Are you comin' down?" Jasper asked, glancing at the worn shirt and old pants. He doubted John would be making an appearance.

"No, I'll put my feet up – the shop closed at half-day today," he explained, "and it will be tomorrow morning, no-one will be out."

Jasper shrugged, though it explained why John was here so early. Charlotte trots in then, looking pleased and giggly.

"John!" She gives the man a kiss, and takes his hand. "She looks stunning!" She whispers loudly to him, and he gives her a disinterested smile. "Now, Jasper, you mustn't gawk when she comes down – it's rude." She says, mock-sternly, as a cheeky smile breaks out over her face.

Jasper nodded. "I'm not one for it, ma." He said, seeing her smile again.

It wasn't a slow decent down the stairs – that would have been useless considering the room they were in didn't have a view of them. But there was a quick thumping of feet, and Alice jumped into the door-way, yelling a proud 'Ta-dah!' and throwing her hands above her head.

Jasper thought it looked like a short frock, sky-blue, and was dotted about the tightened middle with small daisies. Her shoes were black, polished Mary-janes, and she wore two blue hair clips adorned with more daisies. Charlotte and John clap aptly, but Jasper doesn't join in.

He steps up, looking her over, and she beams at him. "… It's not even yellow." He says, and gets a whack on his shoulder.

"That was the only clothes I had!" She snapped, crossing her arms and glaring at his smirking face, "I like blue so much more." She continued, smoothing her hands over the fabric, pleased.

The only clothes she had? Jasper frowned. "Was it?" He asked quietly.

Charlotte took her hand though, and smiled at her. "Ah! My dear! Don't you look terrific?" She giggled, and Alice gave a courtesy. "Now, Irene is meeting you at the fair with a very good gentleman of hers. Ready?" The old woman asked.

Alice glanced at Jasper, "Shall we go now?" She asked, getting an affirming nod from him.

–

They had walked the long road to the town in relatively comfortable silence, with Alice taking his elbow properly, and Jasper commenting once that they weren't wearing anything appropriate if it rained. Alice just giggled, and assured him that wasn't what was in store tonight. They had met Irene at the entrance of the town, and she greeted them both warmly, ushering them down to a booth where she had taken residence.

Jasper was lounging comfortably, the chair on its hind legs, while Irene asked Alice how they had been faring here.

"We've been helping Charlotte!" Alice chirped, "She's so nice – she let me keep this, you know!" She added, mentioning very proudly to her dress. Jasper rolled his eyes.

"Of course I do!" Irene laughed, "It's the fifth time you've told me!" She reminded the girl, who looked faintly embarrassed.

"Oh, sorry." She mumbled. Alice glanced to her companion, who had his attention on his smoke until she spoke, "Jasper likes it here too – he's much less cranky as of late." She said, smiling at him.

It might have been the atmosphere of the fair – the good moods, and the lively dancing, but Jasper found himself giving the girl a cheeky grin, that seemed to catch Alice by surprise. "Oh, I'll be mean if you want me to …." He leered, and swiped a hand at her carefully brushed her, as short as it was, which she dodged, and then he reached over and dug his fingers into her side.

She squealed as he did so, hiccuping with giggles as she batted his hand away, "Oh no! Stop!" He backed down, with Irene's laughter surrounding them both, "You bully." She pouted and whacked him as he settled back down. Glaring and waiting to see if he'd launch another attack – which he didn't – Alice asked Irene the question she really wanted to. "So, who's Greg?" She asked bluntly, referring to that dark handsome man Charlotte had called a gentleman. They have been introduced at the front of the town.

She was rewarded by the faint blush on Irene's cheeks as she answered. "Gregory Norton. He's … an old friend. He grew up here, so we met often, and then he moved to the city with me." She continued with a hint of pride, "He's a lawyer, a successful one."

Jasper replied sardonically, though not as unkindly tonight. "You must be so proud."

Irene nodded, ignoring his jibe. "I am, he deserves it." She answered honestly.

"He's handsome!" Alice said, her outburst making Irene blush again, "Like a proper man – but it's okay Jasper," She turned to him quickly, petting his shoulder, "you're a very good-looking boy." She assured him.

He laughed as he nodded to her, "Thank ye." He'd never had his manhood questioned before, but he supposed it was more of a boyhood, discounting all the killing. He was young when he died.

"Hey!" They all turned to see Greg, who was carrying an assortment of cups. "Here you all are. I got drinks – some iced tea for the young lady," He placed a tall water tumbler topped with mint leaves at Alice, who took it while thanking him. "Here's a coffee, 'Rene." He added, putting the small white cup in front of her, dangerously close to spilling the foam. "Jasper? Beer?" He asked, holding the mug at him.

Jasper took it and smiled largely. "I like you." He said. He liked anyone who gave him a beer. He also had a blood-pack in his pocket that he'd been saving just in case the crowd of people over whelmed him.

Greg laughed. "You're welcome. Hey!" He turned around, to the crowd of people in front of them, where the area had turned into a make-shift dance floor. While everyone was distracted, Jasper emptied the blood into his mug and threw the plastic away. "Anyone fancy a dance? Alice?" Greg asked, holding a hand to her.

Jasper glanced up, strangely uneasy, but settled slightly as Alice shook her head. "No thanks!" She giggled, "I don't know how to dance other than ballet." She admitted.

"Well, isn't that sophisticated?" He teased, then suddenly held his hand out to Jasper. "Jasper, a dance?" He asked, everyone laughed as Jasper seemed to mull the offer over.

In the end, he shook his head. "You're a charmin' one, sure, but I'll pass." He explained.

Greg laughed, "My heart bleeds. Oh well, there's nothing for it – Irene, may I have this dance?" He asked suddenly, already taking her hand.

"Hm?" She looked up from her cup, taken off-guard, and Alice giggled as she pointed to the foam moustache of the woman's face, which was hurriedly wiped off as Jasper snickered. "Oh … um, alright." Irene pinched her skirt up a little as Greg escorted her away.

"Very good – now you have to marry me." Greg said suddenly, grinning as Irene admonished him, pushing his shoulder. He had none of it though, and whisked her away. "Let's go!"

Alice and Jasper were left by themselves for the time being, and watched the couple dance. "… Was he serious? Are they going to get married!?" Alice asked suddenly, looking excited.

Jasper looked up her dubiously. "Doubtful, darlin'. He was just jokin' …" Jasper explained to her, then thought back on the warm, fuzzy feelings he kept giving off in Irene's presence, "I think. Actually, I'm not sure. Not right now in any case." He added, then deciding to ignore it all as he took another drink. He was getting warm, fuzzy feelings himself – but that was surely just the alcohol.

Alice clapped her hands, smiling. "Oh that's exciting!" He smiled at her enthusiasm, though it was a bit unfounded.

"Why?" Jasper asked, being replied with by a confused look, "It's not like you'll attend." He added. He knew he would have undoubtedly left by the time such preparations would be made.

"What?" Alice blinked; obviously the thought had never occurred to her, "… Oh yeah, we're only staying here for a bit, huh?" She asked, looking into her tea and going very quiet.

Jasper shrugged. "I'm blowin' out of here after the fair's done." He said. His plans were to leave a lot sooner than that, but it had taken a while for him to get around to it, strangely.

Alice was shocked, and Jasper had a vague idea as to why. "… You won't stop running, will you?" She asked softly, her face betraying her hurt. Jasper sternly reminded himself of how very little he owed the girl as he nodded.

"I think it's best we go our separate ways." He placated her, "You're free to stay here." He added, honestly thinking that was what the girl would choose. Alice had seemed happy here, and content. Surely Charlotte would take her in if she asked; the two were so fond of each other. Even the stand-offish John had taken a liking to her. Hell … over the time they stayed here … well, she was a little less annoying then she'd always been.

But Alice looked very troubled, and even more unhappy. She whispered, "But I don't want-"

"You two!" Greg strode up to the table, mentioning them with excitement, "Come here!" He called.

Jasper and Alice obligingly got up to meet him, and he led them to a small stage. They were pushed to the front, and the performance began. Two shirtless dark men twirled fire, threw flaming bottles at one another, and spat flames from their mouth as the audience watched. They danced as though they were taking the fire as their lady, twirling it and moving with it fluidly, lovingly.

They were magnificent, neither Alice or Jasper had seen anything like it, and watched as enraptured as the rest of the townsfolk as the men spewed fire over their heads, and left a single flower on a woman's hat smouldering.

After the performance, Alice was bouncier than usual, as she skipped back to their table. Jasper plodded along beside her, glad that one of them could show how much the performance had pleased them both. Gladder still that they had been distracted from talking about leaving. "That was-" She started, but she bit down the rest of her words, as a girl stepped up to Jasper.

She was obviously one of the locals, and her brown hair pulled into two long plaits. Jasper had a childish urge to yank the ties out of her hair. He managed to brush the urge away fairly easily though.

He really hoped she wasn't going to … he caught the batting of her lashes, and the moving of her hips. Fuck, she was. She was going to flirt.

Well, this would be awkward. Jasper certainly didn't have the urge to stick it anywhere recently. Probably because of the fact that the last time he did; he was covered in blood, on a battle-field, and the rent-girl was supporting herself on a pile of dead bodies. It had been a relief at the time but it was all a bit too morbid to try again. Even in a nice town like this.

But back to the less gruesome present. "Hi!" The girl said, "I'm Carrie." The girl said, smiling. Jasper nodded in return. She introduced herself to Alice too, who gave a little hello back. "You're both new! May I sit with you?" She asked sweetly, "I'd love to hear some visitor's stories." She explained, looking eager. Jasper hid a smirk; he didn't think she was after a story. That definitely wasn't the emotion he was picking up. It was lust, and she was looking at both Alice and himself with equal interest.

He wasn't looking for it though, and shook his head, "I don't think it's necessary, sweet-heart." He said gently, "I've got nothing interesting to say." He added. He smiled as the girl pouted openly, and looked towards Alice for an answer also, still fluttering her lashes. Jasper glanced over at her too; maybe she would be a bit more engaged.

She was only too happy to stay oblivious, "I have some stories!" She piped up cheerfully. Jasper snorted, but it wasn't his place to point out Carrie's ulterior motives, so allowed himself to be pulled along back to the table with them both.

"Alright!" Carrie crowed, and the girls almost instantly began chatting. Jasper was almost envious how easily they jumped from subject to subject, but the topics remained mundane and he quickly lost interest.

"So, Jasper," Carrie piped up suddenly, turning to him with quirked lips, "tell me, have you got anyone at home?" She asked bluntly. Jasper shook his head, not fully covering his smile. It was nice that he wasn't beating around the bush, he had to respect that, "Anyone here?" She tried again, and he denied it again.

That made her smile, and ask eagerly, "Would you like someone?" She made sure her assets were clearly shown now, and while Jasper did consider them, he shook his head.

Still not looking for it, "Not particularly, sweet-heart." He said. Carrie pouted, and while her pretty red mouth looked very inviting on her plump cheeks, he failed to feel any need to take up the invitation.

"You, Alice?" She asked quickly. Jasper glanced at her, and could actually pin-point the very second Alice realised what it was Carrie wanted.

"Excuse-?" She stared for a moment, dumb-struck, and gave a giggle, but suddenly seemed very shy, "Oh, oh, um, no, no thank you." She muttered, watching her nails as they scraped the table-top. Jasper snickered, the sentiment shared by Carrie, as she stood.

"Aw, I see," she said graciously, "I best be going then," she said, leaning down and giving Jasper a quick kiss that made her smirk, before slipping out of the booth and taking Alice's hand, "it was lovely talking to you, Alice." She said, planting a kiss on her too.

Alice was flustered for a moment, before waving as Carrie bounced off, "You too!" She called weakly, slumping back into her seat. Jasper had fully swallowed his laughter by then, and was able to easily meet Alice's eyes, she looked very embarrassed.

"Was she very obvious to you?" Alice muttered. Jasper nodded, not holding back his slight mocking, and his grin surfacing despite his best efforts. Alice frowned.

After a while of watching the dancing couples, Jasper glanced at Alice, who was still quiet, probably embarrassed from the conversation before. "… Dance with me." He said.

"What?" She looked surprised, almost as surprised as Jasper. Why had he offered to dance? … He guessed he didn't like seeing the cheerful Alice look so glum. Like he said before – she had become marginally less annoying now he'd known her.

"Dance. With me." He said shortly, then poked her side, making her jump. "Come on."

She was suddenly very flustered. "I …" she paused, "in two minutes." She said with determination.

Jasper raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Alice glared at him, obviously trying to figure out whether or not Jasper was starting that 'Why' game again from before they hung up the laterns. "I'll like the next song better." She explained. Jasper was almost surprised – he'd nearly forgotten about her little ability, she barely mentioned it, let alone used it. If she did, she probably would have known about the pig-feeding. He knows it's how she tracked him so far for so long, but she barely spoke of it and Jasper didn't blame her. A powers like that was kept under wraps for personal safety.

He nodded anyway. "Alright then. The next song." So they waited, watching the other couples prance by, waving enthusiastically when Irene and Greg passed. As Jasper listened to the music, it's slow, romantic tunes didn't appeal to him. He's glad Alice refused this song. They were slow and boring – something he would probably not feel entirely comfortable dancing to with her.

After a while, the music stopped, there was polite clapping, and the music sped up- it was a merry, jaunty pace, and Jasper found that he liked it a lot more than the last song. Alice tugged at his sleeve. "Let's go!" She chirped, and he took her hand as they raced for the openings on the dance floor.

Then they danced. It was a jig, really, skipping – in Alice's case, and stomping- in Jasper's, around each other while keeping a tight grasp on the other's hand. That was mostly because they were a little too giddy at the moment to be trusted to stay upright at such a speed on their own. At one point Jasper was sort of carrying Alice, and spinning around and around, and they were both roaring with laughter because in the fair with new friends somewhere in the crowd, and a warm bed to head back to, and plenty of time to play, how could anyone not find enjoyment when so many others were having so much fun?

They were both stumbling and breathless by the time the song ended, managing their way back to the table, where Irene and Greg applauded them loudly. Alice gave a curtsy, and Jasper nodded a bow. He was still grinning like a fool, but he didn't mind so much, not tonight. He couldn't remember the last time he'd enjoyed such innocent pleasures. Another song, just as playful as the first, started up, and Jasper grabbed Alice's hand before he knew it fully. "Let's go again!" He yelled, already dragging her back to the dancers. She ran to catch up with him, giggling all the way.

* * *

><p>While making vampires glamorous and alluring I think it's sad to forget some of them were just children.<br>You think that people in their late teens are pretty grown up until you are one.


	8. Sherlock Holmes Reference Anyone?

Maybe people are curious as to why these vampires sleep and get drunk and piss, and I'm gonna be honest, I never liked how untouchable all these supernaturals were. So sometimes you just gotta sit back and let inhuman things be a little more human.

* * *

><p>The fair was over – the crowds had thinned and the stalls were closing, so Jasper was now escorting Alice and Charlotte – who had come sometime after most of the more energetic dancing had finished – back to the house. Charlotte had been regaling them with 'old-lady gossip' for most of the trip. "Did you two have fun?" She asked, when she was finished her yarn.<p>

"Yep." Jasper nodded, grinning. Alice's hand had somehow found its way into his own, and he swung them for the sake of doing so. "We saw this fire twirler, ma," He said, getting an excited nod from Alice, "and Greg got me a beer – I like him." He added.

Alice piped up then. "Then he asked Irene to marry him!" She adopted a very starry-eyed look then, "Do you think they'll get married, ma?" She asked. Charlotte gave a wary sigh.

"I hope so, dearie." She replied, "Greg's been asking her for years, but she's always said she'll become a singer before then." The woman explained.

Jasper grunted, "Is that what she wants?" The music industry wasn't exactly a very welcoming or respectable place.

Charlotte chuckled as she opened the gate to the yard, closing after they had all stepped in, "She didn't go all the way to the big city to wait on tables, dear!" She chided, telling them both about the younger woman's aspirations for opera. Jasper was silently impressed, and Alice clapped her hands.

"I hope she gets famous – she has such a nice voice even when she just talks!" Alice says cheerfully as they walked down the lane, Jasper nodding in agreement. Irene had a voice that was very strong, but far from unpleasant.

"I hope so too, dear." Charlotte said in a quiet voice, opening the front door and stepping inside, fire from the living room giving everything a dark glow. "I'll make tea." She said, heading to the kitchen. Out of politeness, and the fact Alice still wanted to chat, she followed the woman in. Jasper headed to the living room, and was given a silent greeting by John at the fireplace, and took his position on the floor.

There was a sudden pounding on the door. Jasper smelt sweat, and blood. Faint, familiar-smelling blood …. He stood, and John did too. They both made it to the doorway as Charlotte opened the front door a crack.

"What is it?" She asked, her voice hard. It seemed she expected as much trouble as Jasper did.

"William Sigmond, third-class general of the Kai-chasey Protectors!" The voice was cracking slightly, but the words were clear. Jasper's blood went stiller than stagnant, and he glanced at Alice, who shooed away from the door frame. If Kai-chasers found them, there was no doubt some trouble will follow.

"Willy?" Charlotte opened the door further. She was confused, and slightly angry. John stiffened next to Jasper, and actually pushed him behind him, explaining the man, Willy, was an exiled townsman, the rest of the folk not accepting his views of Kai and pure human societies. He hadn't been heard from for a few years now. "What are you-" Suddenly the door was flung open, clipping the woman's left side and tripping her. Alice rushed to help her up and out of the door way in time for this Willy to step through.

"Official business, ma'am!" He said head raised high, "Step aside!" He snapped. He reeked of alcohol. He was a big guy, balding and angry. He wore a uniform that had probably seen better days – like laundry day. "What-" he began, but John stormed up.

"What are you doing on my brother's property, Sigmond?" He roared, glaring at the man. He was just as tall as him, but his old-age and willowy statue made him slightly less imposing. "You turned your back on this town – we won't welcome you back!" He continued, shooing him to the door. Jasper thought of stepping forward, until he caught Alice's eye and was glared down until he didn't dare move from the middle of the living room.

"Quiet, old man!" Willy yelled, "You have been harbouring one of the Protector's criminals!" Jasper sighed, trying to weigh his options. How long would it take to get blood out of Charlotte's wood floors? And why did it still smell like familiar blood? "His crimes against our faith have not been properly-"

Suddenly, there was a short scream of rage, from a very well-known source. "Shove it up your fucking ass, William!" Irene's voice was sharp and trembled with anger. "First you beat up Greg," Jasper winced, that explained the scent – Greg would be in a right state now, "then you try and assault me and now you're threatening my relatives? You god-damn pig!"

Jasper crept over to the door frame and peeked around it, where everyone gave the irate woman a wide berth as she held a pocket knife and tried to steady a wounded Greg. Charlotte had a hand pressed against her quickly beating heart. "You were a drunken prissy dandy when you asked me to marry you, and now you're trying to get back at me for being offended?" Jasper could now place the feelings of mourning and regret to Willy then, "You make me sick!"

Willy seemed rather cowed, but determined to put on a strong front, "Miss Adder-" He began.

"Mrs. Gregory Norton-to-be, shit-head." Irene said, not without a large degree of satisfaction. Despite the fact Willy only had to turn his head slightly to the left in able to see and probably try and arrest Jasper, Alice still found the energy to give a gasp and a few claps.

Willy gave a significant pause, and Jasper simply blocked out the swirl of emotions. He could undoubtedly tone-down the situation – but something cruel and hard in the back of his mind, something that had seen him through two wars, one with a beating heart and one without, and all the shit in-between, told him to wait and watch, something fun was happening soon.

Willy started in a small voice then, "… The crimes against Kai will not be ignored and I will make sure, as my holy duty-"

Irene gave a harsh laugh, "You are a cowardly, spoilt, slimy, good-for-nothing piece of shit;" she poked his chest as she listed his attributes, "there is nothing holy about you!" She spat. That seemed to be Willy's snapping point.

With more quickness than Jasper thought he could muster up again, Willy had grabbed Irene's knife, and held it against her throat. "Shut up, you ungrateful whore!" John, Charlotte and Alice rushed forward, and even Greg made a move to intervene while clutching his torso, "I'll kill you-!"

Jasper got there first, the back of his mind was now at the forefront and manning all engines. He took great pleasure in the fact that the man's jaw gave way so easily, as did his piggy face, which crunched in such a way Jasper's fist was covered in much of it when he pulled it out. The three ribs Jasper chose all snapped individually as he poked them in, forcing to the man to cough up blood as the bone punctured his lung. Jasper side-stepped the vomit.

He was crouching over the man as he lay on the floor when Irene's voice broke through his red haze.

"… Is he dead?" She whispered. Jasper glanced around. Everyone was looking, Greg looked a little green but mostly pale, Charlotte had a hand to her mouth, John's wrinkled face collapsed into itself by the frown and squint he was giving. Irene hovered nearer to him.

He listened, and heard Alice, leaning on the wall, just inside the kitchen. He glanced at her, but she was looking at her shoes. He knew then, that she was waiting. The same pose she adopted when he'd killed the drunk boys that had given Irene trouble the first time they'd met.

He turned to Irene then. "Just about." Jasper replied, smiling, "I could kill him if you like?" He offered, lifting the man by the shirt and raising the pocket-knife he pinched. It would be a bit of a task to slice the man's throat – the blade wasn't nearly sharp enough to make it quick, either, or painless. He didn't care if it wasn't quick or painless.

"No, no don't." Irene said quickly, her outstretched hands shaking slightly, "Don't kill him."

Jasper let the man go, watching him flop to the floor. "Okay." He replied.

Alice stomped up suddenly, shaking Jasper's shoulder until he turned to her. She crossed her arms and she was glaring at Willy. "Jasper – you should make him say sorry!" She snapped. Jasper could see where she was coming from – since when was using such words against a lady acceptable? It's best he set an example ….

"Okay." He hefted the man up again, and punched him across the face to rouse him. "Get up! I said-"

"No, enough boy!" It was John, who had gotten over his shock, and pushed the irate Alice to Charlotte, and looked over to Greg, who still had his mouth hanging open. "Greg, can you stand?" Greg nodded while closing his jaws with a snap. "Good. We have to get him to Jen Ackle, the Doc will know what to do with him."

With that, John eased Jasper off the man, who allowed himself to be scooted off the side, and Charlotte petted his shoulder distractedly as she took Willy's other side. "I'll help, Johnny. Irene will need to support Greg," she glanced over at the drooping man at the door, "he's not going to stay awake much longer." As she spoke, the man gave a groan, and stumbled forward, landing harshly on his side.

Irene ran to him, just as Jasper felt Alice's small touch at his own side. She was hiding behind him, letting out the smallest of whimpers, but he wasn't sure why. He didn't like the young girl looking so wide-eyed though, and he petted her arm lightly. Alice's eyes were trained on the blood Jasper had split on the floor. The smell was effecting her, and Jasper had never seen her disturbed by human blood.

"Greg, Greg, can you hear me?" Irene called, able to help him into a sitting position.

"You said …" Greg cleared his throat to rid his voice of its feebleness. "Mrs. Norton-to-be … you mean it?" The man looked at her, and she flushed dark red. For once the blood didn't rouse Jasper's appetite. He was focused on Alice's bloodlust, his hand stroked down her arm, forcing her to calm down.

"I mean it. I mean it, Greg." Irene threw her arms around him, and everyone quickly pretended to busy themselves with other things. Jasper focused on the opposite wall as Alice peeked over his shoulder. "But not until I'm a singer – I want to star in an Opera as your fiancée." She helped him to stand then, "I'll marry you after, I promise. Come on, let's get you up."

They made it to the door before Greg kissed her. "I love you …."

"Me too." There was a silence in the tender moment which soon became very awkward. "Let's go."

John and Charlotte were able to half-drag the unconscious Willy down the lane, as Irene and Greg cuddled/supported their way in front. That left Alice and Jasper to watch after them. Charlotte had simply said to watch the house while they were gone, for fear the blood would prompt them.

Alice skipped over to the door, shutting it, before taking his side. "Jasper …." She whispered, a large smile playing over her face. He grunted. "I think they are going to get married, after all!" She cheered. He looked at her, and at the strong feeling of happiness. Happiness, excitement and joy – why was it she was so easily able to ignore the blood?

He nodded, though, guessing it was only fair to leave the question be for now. "I guess so."

–

Jasper noticed a throbbing in his hand as he took a mouthful of the blood-pack Alice had warmed up. "Can you clean the blood?" He asked Alice, pointing to the front door. "I've got to go upstairs." He explained.

Alice looked worried. "Are you hurt?"

"Only a nick." He showed its hand, where the pocket-knife had grazed him. "My hand, I'll bandage it, might lay down a bit after – you clean." He ordered, then smiled, "Got it?" The blood was getting to him, even while he sucked the blood pack dry; it was nothing compared to taking what you needed yourself. But as soon as Alice herself had eaten a pack, her urges were gone, or very well hidden. He was a little jealous, but most impressed.

Alice seemed to understand; her self control was just … better than his. She nodded, already trotting over to the mop. "Got it."

–

As soon as Jasper reached upstairs, he surveyed the room he had been staying in. His duffel was still packed, as was his guitar – it made it easier to just grab them and slip out the window. He didn't made an effort to hide his intentions – he doubted Alice was paying any attention, she was still happy from the news of Irene and Greg.

He walked to the woods, and kept on walking. As he did, he mulled over his decision. It was only logical – he knew people enough to know how they would react after things had calmed down. His act of violence would be feared, it would make them all fear him. He didn't much like being feared, except if he was fighting. But he wasn't fighting any more, and he didn't want to. He wasn't too worried about Alice, though – he was sure Charlotte would welcome her to stay. She liked it there – at least she wasn't bugging him now.

It was quiet that night. The town had exhausted itself from the fair, so not much was moving. Jasper thought about how it was never quiet when Alice had followed him. She wasn't very good at being inconspicuous – he doubted she even knew how – so there was always a scuff of her shoes, a giggle whenever Jasper turned around to try and glimpse her, only to have her duck down somewhere. Then sometimes, as though she forgot Jasper didn't like being tailed at all, she'd start to hum, or sing a song with no words, which would usually make Jasper snap at her to cut it out. Only to be met with empty space and a fading laugh.

But when he thought about it – which he seemed to be doing a lot out in this forest, maybe the trees were quiet enough to let him think – Alice was never really a very big nuisance to him … he remembered several occasions in which bad whether and persistence had prompted Jasper to help her travelling at times. He almost felt as if … if he was going to be her adventure – the least he could do was try and make it bearable. He was barely a bearable person at best. Lately, though, before the church, he almost … expected her to show up, sooner or later. She was almost like a friend. Jasper doubted that last bit though, it had been a long time since he'd had a friend. Especially not one that giggled.

There wasn't even a snicker now. Jasper didn't like being left this his own thoughts. Suddenly, there was a stomping of feet behind him, and he turned, half expecting Alice in her gaudy sun dress. He was met with a furious-looking John. The old man felt a bit too much relief to be actually angry, though. "Jasper! Where the hell do you think you're going?" He snapped.

Jasper waved. "Oh, hey old man." He pointed down the beaten path. "I'm leavin'." He added needlessly.

John scowled. "In the world would you do that?" He asked.

"… I've scared you all." Jasper admitted. It didn't leave a very nice taste in his mouth – which was a first. "Maybe not Alice –" he added, thinking back to the fact Alice had only seemed cross at the time, "but the rest of you, I have. It wouldn't be right for me to continue imposing on your home if you walk on eggshells-"

"Boy, you nearly slit a man's throat." John growled, "He was a piece of work, granted, but you were going to do it if Irene said yes or didn't answer." He looked at Jasper shrewdly. "Weren't you?" He asked.

Jasper shrugged. "Yes, she's a good person, I don't know him." He justified. How could he feel bad about killing someone he didn't even know?

John was silent for a moment, and he looked sad. "Are all the Dawn Era boys like that?" The man asked.

Jasper knew what he meant, though. "… Your big brother would probably be a real upstanding hero." he said, watching John as he listened, "He would have had nightmares, loads of them, and he would have been jumpier than a rabbit when adjusting back to civilian life …" Jasper remembered the look on Charlotte's face as she spoke of her husband, and the loneliness in John's tone when they first met, "but he would have had a good wife and a good brother. I didn't have anything of the sort – I'm different." Jasper explained. That much was true – he went from one side to another and lost a lot of his sanity for it. John looked slightly taken aback.

Then there was a patter of footsteps, and Charlotte joined them. "Well – you have something like that now." She said firmly. It was useless to try and guess how much she heard. She'd heard enough.

"Ma … ma'am." Jasper muttered, giving her a tip of his hat, "Thank you for your hospitality-"

"Shut up Jasper!" It was Irene, storming up to him and looking pissed. Jasper sort of wondered if they had all already known where he was before talking to him. "You seriously think you can save my life and walk away before I could thank you?" She snapped. "You know nothing about the Adder's if you think we'll let you get away with that!"

"Irene's right, Jasper." Charlotte took Jasper's arm before he could stop her, and began leading him back the way he'd come. He trotted after her, "You gave us a real fright, yes, but you're a good boy. Besides – she's falling to pieces," Jasper didn't need to ask who 'she' was, "were you just going to leave her with us and run away?" Jasper nodded. "Well, that's not going to happen, mister!" She gave his arm a firm squeeze, "You're coming back home."

He nodded again, trying not to smile this time. "Yes … ma."

–

He feels chagrined as he walks through the back door with Irene, and barely gets time to hand her his things before he's tackled head-on. "Jasper!"

He stops struggling when he realises Alice wanted to try and crush him to death. "Hey, lil' darlin'."He greeted, "What is it?"

She looks up at him then, and Jasper is disconcerted by the tears in her eyes, and the furious glare. "Don't you ever leave again! Here I was, thinking I did something wrong!" She yells. Her angry wasn't like the anger at the church, no, it was laced with a sort of relief and desperation that made Jasper feel slightly … guilty. "And I tried to see, and I hate trying to see, I really do!" Jasper was surprised again, a mention of her powers. "Because sometimes it's scary but most of the times it's so quick and dizzy but I tried to see you and all I could see were trees! What were trees supposed to even mean!?" She finishes her rant, sucking in a deep breath. Jasper lets her pant a moment, before apologising shortly. He wasn't used to such a thing, but he decided he might as well. As he speaks, he takes her wrist, touching his tags. "… I'm angry with you." She said quietly, then leans up, and kisses his cheek.

Irene then declares their lover's moment over, and before Jasper could experimentally poke his face where Alice's lips had touched, she was bustling them upstairs, saying everyone needed as much sleep as possible after such an ordeal.

No-one had spoken about whether or not little Willy had made it, Jasper found he didn't want to ask, but were assured by Doctor J. Ackle that Greg would make a full recovery.

He was almost surprised that he didn't want to know about his victim. That was a first, he usually relished the after-glow of a kill. Not tonight though, he had gone from dancing with Alice to getting kissed by her too. It was a bit much.

They were laying in their room, Alice finally settling after Jasper pinky-swore not to run away again, but neither of them could sleep. "Were you scared?" Jasper asked her, "When I hurt that man, were you scared?" He needed to know the answer, because something was forming in his mind. A decision, a very different decision. It had wriggled its way inside his head after watching the fire twirler, but now it was firmly embedded. He was not too surprised with it's clinging on, but it was a bit unnerving, and he wanted everything sorted before he voiced it. Because this was a decision he was going to talk about.

Alice shifted slightly above him, and her pale thin arm slides down the mattress, resting on his shoulder. There was a warmth there that startled him – the dead didn't give off body heat, but the place she was touching felt nearly on fire.

"Jasper … we met on a battlefield, it's not like I didn't know what you do there." She said quietly, "You've killed people in front of me before and besides," she smiled, and Jasper was reminded just how differently he treated her, and he wondered if he should be scared or angry with himself, "we're far from human. That man was mean – I wasn't scared. I'm more scared about the Pictures." She confessed. Jasper let that answer sink in before asking his next one.

"… How can I get you to forgive me?" He asked quietly. He could tell now that his leaving had left her very distraught, and he was almost sure she had actually left finger-nail marks on his tags by now. It made him feel pretty bad, and annoyed with himself, since he had always gone out of his way to accommodate her, no matter how disconcerting her presence, but had also so easily upset her, and undo all his own hard work. It made him feel like a flake – and he didn't like it.

She glanced at him, pouting. "Are you really going to leave soon?" She asked.

He braced himself for the words he was about to utter. He might as well voice the decision now, just voice it right now. "I won't. I won't run." He promised. He thought it was for the best after all – she just complained about her legs feeling tired when he ran, because she ran right after him.

He choose not to think about how life-altering this was. He was free, waiting, but free, and in this little farm cottage, under the roof of a brother and a wife of a person Jasper wanted to meet, he decided his life of a lonely wonderer may as well be joined with that of a petite thing in a sun-dress that wanted in so badly anyway.

She blinks, and looks at him blankly. He just nods, and gives her a smile. Her shock was amusing. "Jasper!" She squealed, and before he knew quite what was happening, he was bombarding by a fly-tackle from her, and a wave of happiness. "Thank you! Thank you!" She chanted.

He pulled her away slightly, though didn't object when she settled right next to him. He allowed her to pull the rest of the blankets down from the bed, and sort out a little nest for the both of them. "But you've got to understand," He began, because it was only fair to warn her, "I can't …" what was he trying to say? "I can get real mean myself." He said, thinking back to Willy. A little rejected lover wasn't anywhere near as close as how cruel Jasper could sink to. And sink to fast.

"I know you can," Alice said, giving a shrug, "because you're grumpy, and impatient, but it's okay" she gave a giggle, "You'd hope I knew you by now." She said. Jasper blinked, tailing him for a few years … she'd probably seen the foulest his moods could get. … She was probably used to it.

He felt slightly embarrassed, with how girly Alice was, that she'd seen him at his worst. "Oh. Well, if you're sure …." He muttered.

She wrapped her arms around one of his and smiled. "I am! Can we stay here longer?" She asked suddenly, and the next voice she used was quiet. "I like it here." She admitted.

Jasper remembered another condition to having his new travelling companion, that he had unofficially had for a while now. "Alright. You'll call the shots from now on. Where and when we'll stay." He told her, smiling at the spark of excitement she had, "On the condition that you use your little foresight to keep us outta trouble, okay?" He asked sternly.

She faltered, and glanced at his serious face, then down at the floor. There was some reason to her reluctance, but she didn't feel inclined to share. "... Do I have to use it all the time?" She asked in a whisper.

"No," he said, "just tell me if somethin', like this," he pointed down the stairs to where they could hear Charlotte and Irene coo over the patched-up Greg, "happens again." He said. "Believe it or not, it can't happen again." He said to her. Attracting attention would cause all kinds of shit.

She looked at him, and their was determination in her eyes as she nodded, willing to get over her fear of the pictures in her own head, to stay with him. "Okay."

–

The next morning, in which Jasper surprising had yet to regret his decision, he plunders down to the wash-room, where a bucket, some wet flannel, and soap where laid out next to a tap. He planned on having a scrub to shoo away last night's … unpleasantness, by which he meant Willy.

He had slept … differently, with Alice next to him, he decided, as he plodded to his destination. He couldn't remember a time when a body was curled up next to his own. Probably when he was in the womb. They had fallen asleep quickly, and when Jasper woke up, a little before dawn, he had seen Alice's face next to his, in their bundle of blankets, and he was surprised. Then he dozed until morning and she had up and gone.

He heard four sleeping breaths from the human occupant's of the house, and deemed that everyone was sleeping off the excitement. That was perfectly fine by him, Daisy the horse wouldn't be needing another brush down, so he'd have less fun chores to do today.

In hindsight, he really should have checked where Alice was too. But he didn't, and unthinkingly opens the door to the wash-room, and walks in on a very naked little darling. There is a heavy silence, in which both parties just stare.

Dumb-founded, and shamelessly looking at her, Jasper nods and says the first thing that wiggles into his dumb-ass head. "Um, mornin'." He greets.

"Get out." Alice says softly. Maybe her quiet tone contradicts her hard words. But he wasn't about to begrudge her anything.

Jasper quietly closes the door behind him, and makes it to the stairs before he hears Alice's soft crying. He glances back, before grabbing for his smokes, lighting it up and heading outside.

He mulls over the unexpected sight. He wasn't the least bit aroused by the skinny pale body he'd looked at, but he was very shame-faced. And maybe a little morbidly curious. "Almost expected her boy-bits …." Jasper muttered to himself. But there wasn't any. Alice was free of all sex, and only had a large pink scar, too protruding and pale to be mistaken for a female from Jasper's close-up. He was just surprised, he guessed, that Alice managed to make it all disappear.

He had almost fooled himself into thinking Alice was actually a girl. He didn't have any difficulties playing along, calling her a 'she' even in his head … mostly because he sort of thought of her that way. Him. Her. It got a bit confusing. But no matter what his stance was with it all, one thing remained certain – what was between Alice's legs was her own secret, and no-one else's. So the morning had been started off awkwardly.

–

It had been a whole day. A whole day of skirting around each other; inquiring as to Greg's recovery and jokingly (on Jasper's part) to wedding details. But the day was over, and they sat quietly in their room at night, the sun-set long gone and ignored by both. Everyone had turned in early, still rattled from the night before. Jasper didn't care, so much.

He had others things to worry about. "Alice, this mornin' …." He began, looking up from his shoe-shining (he'd long since finished his own, and had actually moved onto hers) as she sat on the impoverished bed, sketching. It was a book she kept in her ridiculously over-sized yellow hand-bag, though Jasper was rarely there when she used it. He tried again, "this mornin' …."

"You want to forget about it?" She asked, not looking up at him. Not knowing how to answer the question, which he felt deserved an honest answer, considering he'd seen all of her – he simply asked her the question back – did she want to forget? "No, actually. I want to know what you think." She said, glancing up at him momentarily, "We'll be travelling together, after all." She added, going back to her pencils. There wasn't much emotion in her, almost resignation, really.

"That's very wise." Jasper praised, and he was glad that the comment made her smile. He thought it over. "I think whatever happened was painful." He decided finally. It was after he said it he thought it was a very stupid thing to say – it would have obviously hurt, he hadn't needed to point it out.

"The scar?" Alice asked, and then surprisingly gave a proud smile to his nod, "The pain was worth it. It makes me feel better." She explained. Jasper wanted to mull it over; he wanted to properly digest the small tid-bit she had given him.

But his mouth had other ideas. "You really didn't want your … bits?" He asked. He had absolutely no idea what kind of feeling that would be – he loved peeing outside, and other things that were very delightful about a dick.

Alice shrugged, not alarmed as Jasper was about his word-vomit. "I had a whole childhood to want it. I never did." She stated, still giving a giving off-putting smile. Jasper didn't like it, and it unnerved him.

"Oh." He grunted. "The balls?" Now that he thought about it …. He was almost afraid to ask.

Alice stopped smiling then. "You stopped me that one time." She reminded him.

Jasper vaguely remembered. It was back when he took her in when the sky was looking a bad way and so was the part of town they were in. He had popped out to get a new lighter, and when he came back, Alice sat calmly hacking at her groin. "I saw you mutilatin' your own genitals with my pocket-knife." Jasper summed up.

"They're not my genitals, just this body's." Alice said, almost defensive, "It's the wrong body though, so it doesn't really matter." She added, suddenly flippant. Jasper had no honest grasp on her emotions, and he didn't want to acquire a dishonest grip either. Honestly, Jasper didn't want to check; he kept his little feelers to himself for this part.

"Yes it does, actually. It's the body you've got, so don't go fuckin' it up." Jasper said. Her comment had got to him, for some reason. He felt a slight rage – as though she didn't have the right to harm her – his? – own body. "You'll just burden me." The last part was partly true. Jasper didn't want to carry the injured any more; they always became the dead. Though he also didn't like the idea of Alice hurting herself. He'd rather she directed it towards him. Many other people did, he was used to brunting the blame.

She keeps her head low. "I'm sorry."

He grunted. "How did you get rid of them?" He asked. He wasn't sure why he was suddenly so inquisitive, or if she'd actually gotten rid of them – he just guessed it was the one time she actually opened up.

She shrugged. "I tied them off with a rubber band." That was a lie. It had to be – Jasper used to do work on a farm – you didn't do that to people! Surely … he looked at her face and found no traces of a liar. His stomach churned uncomfortably at the very thought. He knew how the creatures reacted when they had to be castrated.

"Didn't that hurt?" He questioned. Undoubtedly it might've; he remembered doing the same to steers or goats, back when he was human, and how they acted so angry and pitiful. But animals never talk.

She looked at him for a long while. It made him uncomfortable, but he bared with it. "... I don't know." She said finally, giving a shrug. Jasper wasn't sure what that meant, and he wasn't sure he wanted to.

But he was sure he wanted this conversation to be over now. "Alice, I've changed my mind." He said suddenly, moving to put the shoes away, and settle onto his blankets. When he had walked in, she had put her blanket back on the bed. "Let's not talk about this."

She settled also, turning off the light. "Alright, nah-night." She said simply.

–

That morning, the conversation of the night was forgotten. Alice was cheerful all through the day; she had helped with the laundry in her new blue dress, and discussed plans about working at John's to earn another dress. This time, she said eagerly, a nice chequered one.

Jasper had fed and watered Daisy the horse happily enough, and also went into town on Charlotte's request to help unload the new supplies from the city.

It was when they were watching the fire in its place that night they actually had a chance to talk again. They were both lying on their stomach's next to each other on the rug, while everyone else took the couch and chairs. Jasper was tracing non-existent patterns into the hardwood floor.

Alice had been watching him, sometimes mumbling an item for him to draw, which he'd simply refuse.

"A dog."

"Nope."

"Are you disgusted with me?" She asked suddenly, looking up at him. He guessed with wasn't about the dog that never was.

He had propped up his head with his hand, while she blinked up at him with her chin resting on her forearms. "Even if I was," he said lowly, not wanting the contentment of their hosts to be interrupted, "would you be anythin' but heartbroken?" He asked.

She blinked, "Why do you think my heart would break?" She asked back. Her face didn't betray much emotion, but Jasper could feel her worry, and fear. She didn't want to be rejected, not by him.

"I think you have a lot of hope in me." Jasper said. That much was true – he never thought he'd be very off in thinking Alice was almost trying him out – him being the first real step she'll take into proper society. He personally thought she could've chosen a more sane a person. But these days he found himself thinking that he might be more then just practise.

"I do have hope in you." She agreed. Jasper refused to look at her, still drawing swirls and shapes, "… I don't think I'd be anything but heartbroken." She decided after a while. He wasn't surprised. "But that makes it sound simple." She uttered then. He grunted, thinking about what she meant. Jasper had never actually allowed his heart to be broken, but he was sure it wasn't such a big deal. Was this about her self-proclaimed 'wrong' bits? Probably. Though he wasn't sure how to respond.

"Wouldn't know." He answered honestly. He was rarely in a situation where he was a lady's friend. Usually it was a rowdy group of mates. "I had a friend who was gay," he said suddenly, "but it was a time where she wouldn't have been seen again if she told. Feel free to be whoever you want, lil' darlin'." Jasper looked into her hazel eyes, "Because I almost married that girl, and would have made us both miserable."

"Why didn't you?" Alice breathed, she seemed captivated by the story, "Did she go to a big city to live her life away?" She asked. Jasper blinked. Live her life away? It didn't seem like she was wording that right.

"That's an odd thing to say." Jasper muttered, then shrugged, "But she didn't – I just died." He explained.

Alice looked at his hands, which had stopped drawing patterns. Then she reached over, and put a finger on the back of his hand, pressing down until he laid his hand down on the floor, palm-down.

Then she draw an imaginary dog on it with her finger.

–

It was when they were in their room one night, both staring at the ceiling, that Alice spoke quietly, "I'm not gay, Jasper."

"What?" He grunted, then focused on what she was saying. He thought about it for a while. Alice was the way she was, seemed to express some interest in him, but wasn't gay. He gave up, "… I don't get it." He informed her honestly.

"I'm a girl," Alice said. Jasper nodded, he got that part, for the most bit. Well, he had a general idea of what she meant. It was a little vague, but it was an idea, though she wasn't fully a girl, "and I'm a girl who thinks boys are cute." She said, giggling at the end. Jasper mulled it over again, and again failed.

"Huh." He said, for the sake of replying to her. "Whatever." He decided. His head was starting to hurt with all this, and he didn't feel like enduring a migraine any time soon. "Do you mind if I forget about this all?" He asked, "Because that's not very high on my memories list and half the shit I should probably remember won't get remembered." Jasper explained. And then added shamelessly, "Because I drink a lot."

Which was very true, ever since the blood and the Strawberry surprise, Jasper had taken to having a mug of whiskey with his blood pack, on the off occasion he had one. He also noticed Alice consumed a lot more blood then she should if she wanted to travel with him; they could go days without an animal or human passing by on the road. It'd make it harder for her if they had to wait it out to eat.

At Jasper's comment on his own liquor-fixation, Alice gave a giggle. "And you sing." She added.

"Shut up." Jasper said back just as quickly. Never-the-less, her giggles had provoked a smile from him.

"I don't mind that you forget. I wish I could too." Alice said suddenly. Jasper paused, thinking about the times he'd seen her naked, the wash room hadn't been the first. There was the groin-stabbing occasion, though he hadn't seen much … and the wash room. Actually, they were pretty easy to forget.

He smiled, and waved a hand grandly, "Good, because it's done."

* * *

><p>I am all for transgirl or gender fluid Alice but it's not a term Jasper would be familiar with. <strong>I have recently linked some resources<strong> on my profile if you want to know more about transgender activism or asexuality.


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